Atlantic General Hospital

Atlantic General Hospital is a nonprofit hospital located in Berlin, Maryland. The 62-bed hospital has been operating as health care provider since 1993.

Description

The hospital employs 681 associates and 190 doctors on medical staff. It has a combined payroll and benefits of $32,811,706 and contracts $59,947,187 in vendor dollars. The hospital’s health system offers access to more than 20 family practitioners and specialists in Ocean Pines, Berlin, Ocean City, Pocomoke and Snow Hill, Md. and Ocean View and Fenwick, Del. Physicians Appointment Line

Timeline

• 1989-1990: With the closest hospital for Worcester County residents at least a 30-minute drive away, a group of local physicians and citizens — some of whom became the first members of Atlantic General’s board of directors — was adamant that building a hospital in Worcester County was imperative to the health and wellbeing of the area. Through their work, which included commissioning a Price-Waterhouse public opinion survey, drafting a certificate of need, and making repeated visits to the 38th Delegation and then Governor Schaefer in Annapolis, a bond bill was signed. With a $5 million commitment from the state of Maryland and an additional $5 million from Worcester County and $2.5 million from the town of Ocean City, community leaders set out to raise the remaining funds necessary to build a hospital.
• 1991: Public officials, board members and area residents join together to witness formal ground breaking.
• May 21, 1993: The hospital opens it doors for the first time. Atlantic General Hospital begins as a 62-bed hospital with a small emergency department and a long-term care unit that occupies an entire wing of the second floor. As the population grows and the need for medical care increases, Atlantic General eventually moves away from long-term care toward more acute care and specialized outpatient services. During the first year of operation there are 13,316 emergency room visits, which exceed initial projections by 10 percent. Atlantic General Hospital exceeds first year revenue projections by 0.5 percent and outpatient revenue by 23 percent.
• 1995: Atlantic General Health System begins with three primary care providers. It has since expanded to include 25 providers in Berlin, Ocean Pines, Ocean City, Snow Hill and Pocomoke as well as Ocean View and Fenwick, DE, offering primary care, pediatrics, gynecologic services, pulmonary care and imaging services. Physicians Appointment Line
• 2003 – 2004: The hospital grows, with an enlarged emergency department with 19 beds and a fast-track area for more minor sudden injuries and illnesses as well as a second lobby, a sleep disorders diagnostic center and additional space for pulmonary medicine and the hospital’s administration, outpatient laboratory, and imaging department.
• 2004-2005: Existing hospital space is redefined to create the Center for Joint Surgery and the Women’s Diagnostic Center, a department dedicated solely to women’s health diagnostic services including mammograms, bone density measurements, and minimally invasive breast biopsies.
• January 2006: Official groundbreaking for the James G. Barrett Medical Office Building on the corner of Healthway Drive. The 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m²) two-story building, which was designed by the Becker Morgan Group; was built by Nason Construction of Salisbury.
• April 2008: The James G. Barrett Medical Office Building on Healthway Drive formally opens. The complex houses services new to Atlantic General and the area – a Wound Care Center and office for the Diabetes Outpatient Education Program and the dedicated Atlantic Endoscopy Center. The combined medical office and retail space also includes AGHS Surgical Associates and the growing Women’s Health Center, a Coffee Beanery, Chesapeake Eye Center and Neurological Associates.
• 2009: Atlantic General Hospital accommodates more than 117,000 patient visits per year with a medical staff of 190 providers.
• 2010-2015: The "E" Strategy ^[1] begins.

Memberships

• Maryland Hospital Association
• American Hospital Association
• Ocean City Chamber of Commerce
• Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce
• Pocomoke Chamber of Commerce
• Snow Hill Chamber of Commerce
• Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce
• Berlin Chamber of Commerce

References

External links

• The Atlantic General Hospital website
• Atlantic Immedicare
• 30 Minute Promise
• Atlantic Orthopaedics