GBMC HealthCare Breaks Ground on Two New Buildings
August 25, 2021
--Will feature a modern lobby, healing garden and new cancer center--
TOWSON, MD. – The Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) broke ground today on a three- story 117,000 square-foot building to replace older inpatient rooms and create a new grand entrance to the hospital. This construction, called The Promise Project, will lead the way into the future of patient care in the Greater Baltimore community. In addition, the two-year, $166 million, project will include the building and the two-story 70,000 square foot Sandra R. Berman Pavilion, to house the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Cancer Institute.
Construction on the initial phase, is expected to be complete by fall 2023.
The hospital addition will have two clinical floors, each comprising a 30-bed medical-telemetry unit, have been designed in a patient-centered care model and will be double the size of current rooms. Each new patient room will be able to appropriately accommodate patient and clinical staff needs, allow space to safely maneuver, and will have advanced sound proofing to facilitate the rest and healing process. Other improvements include more storage for patient belongings and an in-room sleeper sofa for patient family members or guests.
The current COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the design team to think strategically about contact isolation situations. A new alcove will allow GBMC medical staff to visualize patients without entering the room and a unique patient server will permit them to easily pass medical supplies from outside the room reducing the need to enter and exit the space. The unit design will also provide clinical staff with the ability to create a “pandemic mode” that can exhaust air to the outside in a timely manner to increase protection against infectious diseases. This new feature would make GBMC the only hospital in Maryland to have units with this valuable ability.
The ground floor addition is centered around providing wellness spaces, a retail pharmacy, a medical library and a gift shop. The existing Yvonne Kahlert Chapel will be relocated from its current location to overlook an outdoor healing garden in the courtyard developed between the new and existing buildings to the south. The existing kosher pantry will be moved, and a new meditation interior garden will be built in its place.
With construction of the Sandra R. Berman Pavilion, The Promise Project will also consolidate a number of services provided by GBMC’s Sandra and Malcolm Berman Cancer Institute. The Pavilion will be the new home for various services and specialties such as genetics, infusion therapy, gynecologic and medical oncology, breast and thoracic surgery and oncology support. Schematics for the Pavilion are in the creation phase, with an expected completion date of fall 2024.
Every member of GBMC’s board of directors made a financial commitment to The Promise Project - the health system’s largest campaign in more than five years. Their multi-year support makes up more than 25 percent of the $50 million campaign fundraising goal.
QUOTES:
“We have spent the last decade redesigning care for the patient to experience it as a system. Now is the time for our inpatient rooms to be brought into the future. The Promise Project is a critical step in our effort to hold ourselves accountable for patients’ overall health. At birth. At the end of life. And at every point along the way.” said John B. Chessare, M.D., MPH, president and CEO of GBMC HealthCare.
“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and other unforeseen obstacles, the Board’s commitment to this endeavor never wavered. GBMC's reputation for excellence is a legacy that inspires us to reach even higher. Winning the Malcolm Baldrige award is but one recent example of their tradition of excellence. Under Dr Chessare’s leadership we are now moving forward on our commitment to our community and our patients to provide the finest care in the finest facilities,” said Frederick M. Hudson, chair of GBMC's Board of Directors.
John R. Saunders Jr., M.D., campaign chair of The Promise Project, added, “Modernizing our in-patient care with The Promise Project really allows us to provide the care we want for our community members.”
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