02-16-2023 Howard Mag - Flipbook - Page 52
H E A LT H
Sharon Jennings-Rojas, left, department chair of Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine at Maryland University of Integrative Health, teaches a
class called Healing Presence to a group of students on the campus.
PHOTO BY BARBARA HADDOCK TAYLOR
A
s the population of Howard County has
grown, so have the health care resources available to residents.
Howard County General Hospital, the
county’s only general hospital, has increased in
size dramatically since opening in 1973, adding
space and services for inpatients and outpatients. The hospital has 225 licensed beds. Its
emergency department provides emergency
and urgent care around the clock in a 36-bed
adult care unit, with a separate pediatric unit.
Construction was completed in 2020 on a
$45 million project that added 53,000 square
feet, with a two-story addition adjacent to the
emergency room, an inpatient psychiatry unit
and a patient observation unit.
In 2021, Sheppard Pratt’s new $112 million,
156,000-square-foot psychiatric care facility
opened in Elkridge, and in the early 2000s,
Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest health
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| Winter 2023 | howardmagazine.com
maintenance organization, opened a medical
center in Columbia Gateway Park.
During the past decade, the Kennedy
Krieger Institute opened an outpatient clinic
in Columbia to provide pediatric behavioral
psychiatric services, while Gilchrist Hospice
Care brought a 10-bed inpatient facility to
Columbia.
Dozens of urgent care facilities provide
walk-in treatment.
Resources also are available to residents
through Healthy Howard, a public-health
initiative that promotes healthy workplaces
and access to care.
The Horizon Foundation, an independent
philanthropy dedicated to improving the
health and wellness of county residents, has
invested $55 million in 300 community programs for more than 20 years.
HOWARD COUNTY
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Howard County General Hospital, a
member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, offers an
array of health-related classes, programs and
services:
The Breast Center: The only hospital-based
program for breast cancer treatment in Howard County offers comprehensive breast services, including diagnostics, biopsies and a full
range of treatment options provided by Johns
Hopkins and HCGH specialists. 410-884-4744.
Cardiovascular services: The hospital’s
Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories (410-7407900) offer services including electrophysiology, minimally invasive vascular procedures,
electrical cardioversion, and primary angioplasty treatment, in which patients experiencing certain types of heart attacks can receive
a life-saving procedure to open their clogged