Mount St. Mary’s University and Frederick Health will be partnering to create a new health center on Old Emmitsburg Road. The facility will be located on the vacant lot across Public Safety and will provide enhanced health care for students, staff and residents in the area. This will expand the types of healthcare that students can receive, such as getting X-ray imaging, physical therapy and bloodwork. The heath center plans on opening to the public starting the fall 2022 semester.
The partnership with Frederick Health began in 2018. The idea was put on hold since Frederick Health prioritized its patients that were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the beginning of 2020. Both parties came up with strategies that would expand on the types of health and wellness services for students. President Timothy Trainor explained, “There is no urgent care or primary care in this part of the county. All of them are concentrated in the southern part of the county down by the Frederick city area.”
Though Frederick Health has desired to construct a new health facility in this area, it was unable to make the economics work out for the project. Teaming up with the Mount was a beneficial decision because the facility will now be fully committed to Mount personnel as well as residents in Emmitsburg and surrounding towns.
The development and construction for this facility will begin soon. There is currently work being done to utility lines on telephone poles along the field that the building will be built on. Warner Construction is the company responsible for completing the project. “Warner Construction has built a few things on the campus such as the welcome center at the Grotto, the original four off-campus cottages and HVAC work in the Co-ed Science building,” Bill Davies, the Vice President for Business Operations and Finance at the Mount, added. The CEO of the company, Matthew Warner, is also a former Mount graduate.
As this project is a joint partnership, Frederick Health will be paying for the construction funds and the Mount’s contribution will be the lease of the land for no cost as a long-term lease. “Estimates stand at about three and a half million dollars,” added Trainor. The expansion of the health care facility will create more jobs for health professionals in the area. The current staff in Health Services will be moved to the new facility once it is constructed. Counseling Services is currently located within the Health Center in Lower McGowen and will stay there even after the construction of the new building is complete.
Ideas are still being circulated regarding what will go in place of where Health Services is now. Dean of Students Levi Esses and Vice President for Student Life Bernard Franklin will work alongside Trainor to create a space for student life.
Once the project is complete, the new facility will be the 23rd health facility to open with Frederick Health. The university is eager to provide its students with an abundance of health resources that are currently limited while also creating a health care and urgent care space in closer proximity for the students, staff and the community.