ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Calvin Ball recently joined Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center (JHHCMC) President Dr. Shafeeq Ahmed and other local officials to commemorate the start of JHHCMC’s new, impactful Observation Unit project with a celebratory ‘wall breaking’ ceremony. Photos and video from the event can be found on Howard County Government’s Flickr website.
Emergency Department wait times in Maryland have become some of the longest in our nation, with 18 percent of adults reporting that they went to ER in 2024 because they couldn’t get a timely appointment elsewhere. Today, this ceremonial ‘wall breaking’ marks another historic and impactful moment in our efforts to alleviate the stress put upon JHHCMC’s Emergency Department and its staff and help ensure our community members are receiving the medical care they need in a timely and efficient manner.
In October 2023, Ball pledged $15 million over three years in $5 million increments (two installments have already made, to date) to support the transformation of JHHCMC’s pavilion building’s first floor into a 29-bed observation unit. The construction of this new unit to the medical center’s emergency department (ED) will help reduce ED wait times for patients and is the first addition of beds to the ED since 2009. The total cost of the project is approximately $28 million, with JHHCMC having secured an additional $13 million from a mix of state funding and philanthropic donations to bring the project to fruition and completion. The new Observation Unit is expected to open in fall 2026.
In addition to this new unit, JHHCMC has also taken additional steps to improve capacity at the medical center, including:
- Opening its Behavioral Health Unit in 2024;
- Expanding the area of care for less acute patients in early 2025;
- Launching Virtual Nursing in April 2025; and
- Introducing Quick Care services in pediatrics in the summer of 2025
I hope to inspire others to join me in support of the hospital because it ensures everyone in the community has access to essential, quality care close to home. It’s an investment in the health and future of our neighbors and families.
Since taking office in December 2018, Ball has committed nearly $25 million to JHHCMC, including the aforementioned $15 million, to supplement the medical center’s capital and operating budget to meet the needs of Howard County’s community. This includes:
- $2 million to expand the Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) at JHHCMC. This $10.3 million project grew the medical center’s BHU from 1,500 square feet to 7,000 square feet, tripling its capacity from five to 24 beds. Having treated more than 500 behavioral health patients since its opening in December 2024, the BHU’s new size has resulted in a length of stay reduction of approximately two hours for its patients.
- $200,000 per year in funding for JHHCMC’s Behavioral Health Navigators. Through this program, dedicated skilled professionals help assist patients as they navigate the array of behavioral and mental health services available. Patients who are able to get appropriate care through these resources are less likely to go to the ED.
- $100,000 per year to support multi-visit patients. These are patients who had been admitted to the hospital more than three times in one year. Since this investment, the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission has reported that JHHCMC has the second-lowest multi-visit rate in the state at 17 percent of all patients. The statewide average is 27 percent, and, while broad, this metric suggests that the range of “high utilizer” services at JHHCMC is effective in reducing re-utilization of the emergency department.
- $300,000 for the Mobile Integrated Community Health (MICH). This prevention program was established to bring health services to those who were known as high utilizers of the hospital. During the three years of this program’s tenure, JHHCMC and the County’s Department of Fire and Rescue Services have treated more than 800 patients and saw an 85 percent reduction in 911 calls, 83 percent decrease in inpatient admissions, and 75 percent reduction in ED visits.
- $3.2 million for maternal health. JHHCMC used this funding to establish a Maternal Health Clinic. The Clinic provides expecting and new mothers comprehensive, coordinated prenatal and ongoing care in one place and early on so women do not need to utilize the ED as a last stop. Since the Clinic’s opening in 2023, it is estimated that more than 200 women have avoided the ED as a direct result of the facility.
- $250,000 for a Partnership with the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA). Howard County Government and JHHCMC partnered with MHA to create a discharge hospitality suite. The goal of the suite was to help alleviate throughput pressures on JHHCMC’s inpatient bed and ED utilization. Since opening in July 2024, this suite has served nearly 3,600 patients, reducing time spent in an inpatient bed by nearly 1,015 hours, which equates to more than 17 minutes per patient.