After an earlier false start, a proposal to shut down the struggling Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly and replace it with a new campus in Largo received a major boost.
Emergency room visits now number approximately 110 million every year, and while Prince George’s current hospital is equipped with the second-largest trauma center in the state, it has been plagued in the past by financial failure and poor management.
Fortunately, the proposal to create a new hospital in Largo has been met with positivity.
The project was originally attached to a much higher price tag, but a reviewer for the Maryland Mental Health Care Commission recently gave the green light to a scaled-back version of the new hospital.
The previous proposal was rejected as a result of the price and an alleged lack of focus on out-patient community health care.
Because of that first rejection, organizers scaled the project back from $639,055,000 to $543,000,000; reduced the total construction costs from $284,744,090 to $225,000,000; and reduced the total square footage of the project by approximately 130,000 square feet.
Unfortunately, the cost of a new hospital might not be an immediate issue for the state.
The first case of the flu this season was recorded in a Maryland hospital earlier this week.
Maryland health officials are warning citizens that symptoms like high fevers, body aches, and chills could all be signs of the flu.
The first confirmed case of the season has health officials concerned about the public.
“This is seasonal influenza, so it’s right in line with the kind of virus we try to guard against this time of year,” said Christopher Garrett, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Although peak flu season isn’t until January, officials are warning citizens that the flu shot, although effective, can take up to three weeks to have its full effect on the body.
Even so, officials are urging the public to take their families in for flu shots as soon as possible. One case can only mean that more are potentially on the way.
Fortunately, a new hospital would make it easier to treat patients suffering from seasonal influenza.
Reviewer Robert E. Moffit said in a memo that there is a “clear and compelling need” for a new anchor hospital in Prince George’s County.
