New Anne Arundel Medical Center Tower Makes Premier

At least 2,000 people made their way through Anne Arundel Medical Center’s new seven-story patient tower Saturday afternoon, many of them with little ones in tow waiting to see Dora the Explorer.

But before the payoff of a big hug and a photo op with the cartoon star, families and other visitors were able to get a behind-the-scenes look of the culmination of a six-year, $424 million expansion at the hospital.

The expansion has doubled the size of AAMC’s existing space by adding new medical facilities, buildings, walkways and parking garages to its Parole campus. Also, the AAMC Foundation recently announced the success of its $44 million Care Like no Other capital campaign during a ribbon cutting on the new pavilion.

“We took a huge leap when we moved from downtown Annapolis 10 years ago, and this latest expansion is one more step to ensure that we continue to be the premiere healthcare destination for this region,” Martin L. Doordan, chief executive officer of Anne Arundel Health System, said in a release.

A creative emergency department dedicated to pediatric care was one of the highlights of the tour. Hospital officials also showed off the new expanded emergency department, a new gift shop and some of the 50 new private patient rooms, as well as one of the eight new operating rooms.

There was even parking in the new 1,600-space garage.

The tower also is on track to be the only acute care facility in Maryland to achieve silver certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), according to a release. A presentation in the tower near the volunteer-run gift shop outlines the multitude of ways the tower works to achieve the specialized environmental rating.

One of the more impressive figures is already in the past. According to the presentation, of the 1,875 tons of waste generated during the tower’s construction, 1,750 was diverted from the landfill through recycling. That’s a 93.3 percent recycling rate.

Other aspects are part of an ongoing initiative, such as low-flow water fixtures and dual-flush toilets, plants that thrive on less water, resulting in 33 percent less water usage and a green roof to decrease the amount of stormwater runoff.

Still, the pediatric emergency room attracted the most attention from the seemingly ceaseless line of parents making their way through the department. From the child-size bathroom fixtures, to the colorful murals of Annapolis-themed items on the wall, everything in the department is geared toward softening the impact of a hospital visit.

Children were laughing and playing in the waiting areas Saturday afternoon, pointing out the crabs and turtles on the walls—a striking contrast to what the children most likely will be like when the ER opens for business.

Holly Webb of Hunt Meadow took the tour with her son Koa, 5, and daughter Willow, 3. Shortly after a quick photo with Dora, she said she appreciated the pediatric ER.

“(The regular emergency room) isn’t really set up for kids,” she said. “This side seems great. It was really neat.”

Three-year-old Emerson Gonsalvez’s parents said they’ve never visited the emergency room for him before, but said they were a little more at ease with the idea after seeing the new unit.

“It’s really nice,” said his mother, from Edgewater. “It’s very different and I think much better.”

Upstairs on the fifth floor, Chris Holt, nurse manager of the operating rooms, was giving visitors a chance many would not normally have—a look at one of the new operating rooms and its new equipment.

He said the new surgical suites will have a console where a doctor can operate robotic arms on or in the patient. The tools will enable a surgeon to perform tasks previously impossible, and with less of a negative impact on the patient.

“It will give the surgeon a 3-D view,” he said. “The robot imitates a human hand, unlike regular endoscopic procedures. It can get behind stuff, tie knots. It’s almost like they miniaturized themselves.”

And another piece of good news for the parents on tour, the new pediatric surgical units will allow the hospital to perform procedures that it couldn’t before. That means more parents will be able to stay local during those difficult times rather than having to travel to another facility.

But for many, especially the little ones who couldn’t fully appreciate the benefit the new tower would mean for them when they needed its services, the best part of the day was Dora. Even if it meant a long wait in an even longer line.

Scott and Mary Vining of Bowie said they had been waiting for more than an hour, and that was just to get a balloon animal from Brad Higbee, also known as Jesterman, while they were waiting for Dora to come back from a quick break.

“Dora was on a quick break, so we decided to do this,” Scott Vining said as he stood in line with his 7-year-old daughter Cindy. “Hopefully she’s not on another break when we get out there.”