Upper Chesapeake Holding Off on New HdG Hospital

As a result of uncertainty at the state and federal levels, the new hospital for the Bulle Rock area is in a holding pattern, according to Upper Chesapeake CEO/President Lyle Sheldon.

“Right now we’re waiting to have the dust settle” and “get the federal government back in business," Sheldon said during Monday's City Council meeting in Havre de Grace.

After delivering a presentation to the council about the new Kaufman Cancer Center, which Upper Chesapeake Health opened earlier in the day in Bel Air, Sheldon said: "You can see we've been very busy."

Following a video about the new center, Sheldon provided a brief update on the status of the hospital that was supposed to break ground in Havre de Grace, off Bulle Rock Parkway, in the next several years.

In January, the hospital project's engineer said groundbreaking was slated for 2016. At a Planning Commission hearing over the summer, area doctors said the project was on hold, which Sheldon confirmed Monday.

“We’ve continued to take a wait-and-see attitude just to see how things shake out,” Sheldon said. He cited reimbursement for health care in Maryland and the Affordable Care Act at the national level as "challenges" and factors in the decision to hold off.

"When we get a little more clarity on that, we'll be back in front of this body," Sheldon told the City Council.

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