Howard County General Hospital

Summary

Howard County General Hospital is a 225[2]-bed, not-for-profit health care provider located in Columbia, Maryland.

Howard County General Hospital
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Map
Geography
LocationColumbia, Maryland, United States
Coordinates39°12′46″N 76°53′7″W / 39.21278°N 76.88528°W / 39.21278; -76.88528
Organization
Affiliated universityJohns Hopkins Medicine
Services
Beds225[1]
History
Opened1973
Links
Websitehttp://www.hcgh.org
ListsHospitals in Maryland

History edit

Prior to the construction of Howard County General, most emergency services were provided outside Howard County. Baltimore and Montgomery General Hospital opened in 1920.[3] With the rapid increase in population anticipated from the Rouse Company development he approved, County Commissioner Charles E. Miller attempted to redevelop his family's Historic Gray Rock farm in Ellicott City to build a 200-bed Lutheran Hospital and housing development. Despite multiple attempts, the zoning for the hospital was not approved as competition for the proposed Howard County General project. In addition, the State declined another 1973 proposal to build a 200-bed unit in Ellicott City by Bon Secours for refusing to service abortions as a Catholic hospital.[4]

Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine is a not-for-profit health care provider with 225 licensed beds located in Columbia, Maryland. A comprehensive, acute-care medical center, Howard County General offers a full range of services specializing in women's and children's services, surgery, cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, gerontology, psychiatry, emergency services, and community health education.

The hospital has a professional staff of more than 950 physicians and allied health professionals, representing nearly 100 specialties and subspecialties; a workforce of more than 1,900 individuals and more than 300 volunteers.

In 2009, the hospital opened a $105 million, four-story, five-level patient pavilion with three inpatient floors as well as the Bolduc Family Outpatient Center.[5] In 2014, the Health Care and Surgery Center Building was renamed to the Dr. Sanford A. Berman and Dr. Kay Ota-Berman Pavilion after a $5 million donation.[6]

The hospital is situated on a prehistoric Native American settlement later settled as farmland.[7] Benjamin F. Bassler exchanged 92 acres (37 ha) of his fathers 400-acre (160 ha) family farm and airfield to The Rouse Company in exchange for a 504-acre (204 ha) farm to create Haysfield Airport.[8] A hospital was proposed for the development as two others sought State and County approval. The 59 bed Columbia Hospital and Clinic Foundations Center was opened on July 9, 1973 serving members of the Columbia Medical Plan only. The Columbia Medical Plan was an early HMO created by the Rouse Corporation in conjunction with Columbia's chief backer and financier Connecticut General Life Insurance and Johns Hopkins, which initially discouraged private practices that would form competition.[9][10][11][12] The hospital was an early adopter, integrating psychiatric admissions with regular admissions.[13] After a year of operations, the facility was opened to residents outside the Columbia Medical Plan, with the new name Howard County General Hospital.[14] Within the first three years, the hospital was rated the second most expensive in the state and faced budget cuts after cost overruns and unpaid debt.[15]

References edit

  1. ^ "Maryland Health Care Commission".
  2. ^ "Licensed Acute Care Hospital Beds Fiscal Year 2018" (PDF). mhcc.maryland.gov. Retrieved Jan 9, 2018.
  3. ^ "Howard's Hospital Board". The Times (Ellicott City). 31 March 1965.
  4. ^ "Catholic Hospital, Rejected For Howard County, Appeals: Rejected Catholic Hospital Appeals". The Washington Post. 27 June 1973.
  5. ^ David Greisman (20 February 2012). "Ellicott City couple donates $1 million to hospital foundation". The Baltimore Sun.
  6. ^ Luke Lavoie (6 November 2014). "Howard Co. couple, both doctors, donate $5 million to hospital". The Baltimore Sun.
  7. ^ M. Lee Preston Jr. Archaeology In Howard County and Beyond. p. 7.
  8. ^ Janene Holzberg (19 December 2013). "Clarksville's Basslers say goodbye to family farm, Haysfield Airport". The Baltimore Sun.
  9. ^ Joseph Rocco Mitchell, David L. Stebenne. New City Upon a Hill. p. 99.
  10. ^ Harrie Sheridan Baketel (1971). Medical Economics. 48. Medical Economics, Incorporated. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ Robert G. Shouldice, Katherine Henneberger Shouldice (1978). Medical group practice and health maintenance organizations. Information Resources Press. p. 79.
  12. ^ United States Congress Senate Committee on the Judiciary (1974). Competition in the Health Services Market: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly. p. 1528.
  13. ^ "Nonsegregation of psychiatric patients in a general hospital". Journal of Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health Services. Feb 1979.
  14. ^ Barbara Kellner. Columbia. p. 74.
  15. ^ "Hospital Faces Cuts". The Washington Post. 3 November 1976.

External links edit

  • Howard County General Hospital
  • Johns Hopkins Medicine