Upper Chesapeake CEO: New Campus To Be Built After Coronavirus

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — City officials are using the new coronavirus pandemic to advance an agenda, according to the head of the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health. The charge came after Havre de Grace Mayor Bill Martin sent a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan asking the state to block the health provider's plans to close Harford Memorial Hospital from moving forward.

Upper Chesapeake's CEO Lyle Sheldon sent a statement to Patch Wednesday with a response to the letter, in which he alleged the city was using the anxiety around COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, to advance its own agenda.

"We believe that the City of Havre de Grace is using the COVID-19 pandemic to spearhead a political agenda to upend a well-developed, comprehensive plan to most optimally meet the health care needs of our community going forward," Sheldon said in a statement. "We know that COVID-19 has instilled a heightened sense of anxiety in our community, state and around the country."

The mayor of Havre de Grace asked the governor to block Upper Chesapeake's plans to build a new campus in Aberdeen and shutter its hospital in Havre de Grace, stating: "We passionately argue that now, in the middle of a pandemic, is the wrong time to make such important and permanent decisions!"

Martin wrote his letter before the Maryland Health Care Commission reviews Upper Chesapeake's proposal Thursday to close Harford Memorial Hospital and build a psych hospital in Aberdeen.

Since the new coronavirus hit the region, Sheldon said Upper Chesapeake has been caring for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and will continue to do so.

"Like all hospitals in Maryland, we are working closely with state and local agencies in the preparation and planning for pandemic, and we have been ready and are actively caring for COVID positive patients in both of our facilities," Sheldon said.

"It is important to know that our Aberdeen campus and expansions to UM UCMC will be completed before we close UM Harford Memorial Hospital. The timeline is at least 2-1/2 years away — well beyond the end of the COVID-19 pandemic," Sheldon said. "UM Harford Memorial Hospital continues to operate normally and in light of COVID-19, is employing the same precautions and preparations as UM UCMC."

The plan for the new campus focuses on behavioral health at a to-be-built facility in Aberdeen, with a 24/7 emergency department, according to the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health.

Said Sheldon: "The scope of our projects for the new campus in Aberdeen and the expansion of UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center (UM UCMC) in Bel Air remain unchanged from what we have shared with the community for several years now."

See Also:

• Keep Harford Memorial Open For Coronavirus Crisis: Mayor To Hogan
• Triage Tent Signals Upper Chesapeake Ready For Coronavirus Surge
• UM UCH Confirms Aberdeen Location for New Medical Campus