Howard County Medical Center opening 29-bed observation unit in December

COLUMBIA, Md. — Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center is expanding with a new 29-bed observation unit set to open on December 1. It's a change anticipated to have an immediate impact on the long wait times recorded in the emergency department.

Maryland has some of the longest ED wait times in the nation.

According to the latest data available through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Howard County's lone hospital has a median length of stay that is an hour longer than other high volume EDs nationwide.

Watch: Can this new unit alleviate long wait times at Howard County's ER?

The hospital's inpatient rooms operate at almost 95% capacity daily, creating a bottleneck within the emergency department. This new unit is intended for ED patients who have complex conditions that require short-term, specialized monitoring.

"This will provide our ED with extra space quickly so that we can see our emergency department patients sooner," JHHCMC Nursing director of emergency and psych services Christie Thibeault explained.

Hospital leaders gave a preview of the new unit to county leaders, donors and staff on Thursday. It's housed in a wing once used for outpatient services.

"From our perspective, a very easy decision to transform this space into observation beds," JHHCMC Chief Operating Officer Ryan Brown said.

More than half of the $28 million needed to build the unit was provided by the county.

Brown said the county's contribution was the shot in the arm they needed.

"When this project was conceptualized a few years ago, it was a very challenging fiscal environment for hospitals really across the state," Brown said.
"Having County Executive Ball and the county council come forward with that contribution made all the difference. It was able to springboard this project forward, accelerate it, get donor interest," Brown said.

Private donations from the Kahlert Foundation, Robert and Greg Kahlert, Cathy and Danny Bell as well as Mildred Murray helped fund the remaining costs.

It's not just county residents who will benefit. Johns Hopkins Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine Kevin Sowers notes many patients seek out care at JHHCMC, which despite the lower population, serves just 10,000 fewer patients annually than its downtown Baltimore counterpart.

Reducing wait times

The hospital has made many efforts to shorten patient stays over the past few years.

This includes the additions of an Emergency Behavioral Health Unit in 2024, and a Pediatric Quick Care Services last year, each reducing length of stay by two hours and 90 minutes, respectively, but this latest addition marks the first significant expansion in 17 years.

Something different about it are the cubbyholes with windows between neighboring rooms, intended as nurse work spaces. The project was created in collaboration with staff and their workflows.

"It was really important to us because you don't want to disturb patients by knocking on their doors when they're trying to sleep. And that window allows us to take a peek to make sure that everybody's OK, that they don't need anything," Thibeault said.

Taking a lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic, 11 rooms can also be converted for rapid respiratory isolation.

The unit features warm colors to reduce anxiety and state-of-the-art safety features, such as bed alarms.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.