CRISFIELD, Md.- McCready Hospital, the Tawes Nursing Home and Chesapeake Cove Assisted Living in Crisfield officially became part of Peninsula Regional Health System on Sunday, March 1.
Approval from the Maryland Healthcare Commission was granted earlier this year for PRHS to assume ownership.
“McCready Health has been a fixture and a healthcare safety net for the people of Crisfield and Somerset County for nearly a century by providing reliable, quality, community-focused healthcare,” said PRHS President/CEO Steve Leonard in a statement. “We’re excited to be able to continue that 97-year tradition, and to work collectively with the team at McCready and the people of Crisfield on the opportunities this new healthcare model will present to allow us to continue to provide better, more efficient and more effective care for patients.”
On March 1, McCready Hospital transitioned to a freestanding medical facility (FMF) in place.
“The financial reality is that McCready does not maintain a daily census of patients sufficient to support the services required to qualify as a hospital as defined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” said Kathleen Harrison, president of the McCready Foundation, Inc. “The path to keeping healthcare services in the county became clear: McCready needed to merge with an established and supportive partner like the Peninsula Regional Health System and transition to an FMF in place.”
Services provided by McCready and Peninsula Regional staff at the FMF in place include 24/7 emergency care, physical therapy, speech therapy, behavioral health services, outpatient physician services, imaging (CT scan and general x-ray) and laboratory services.
Inpatient hospital care and surgical procedures have previously transitioned to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. A small number of select outpatient services previously offered at McCready also transitioned to new locations in Salisbury on Feb. 28.
The FMF in place, at the site of the current McCready Hospital, will operate for a period of 24-36 months while PRHS constructs a new state-of-the-art McCready Health Pavilion on Route 413 just east of Crisfield.
Services offered at the FMF in place will all transition to the McCready Health Pavilion. Ground will be broken for the new pavilion within the next few months.
The Tawes Nursing Home and Chesapeake Cove Assisted Living facilities will remain open and operational, and will not relocate.
PRHS officials said that all qualified staff at McCready who are affected by the change in structure are being considered for employment with the Peninsula Regional Health System at locations including PRMC, at the health system’s ambulatory and specialty care centers across Maryland and Delaware, Nanticoke Memorial Hospital and at the new McCready Health Pavilion.
A branding study is underway that will create a new health system name for the company overseeing PRMC, McCready, Nanticoke Memorial Hospital and all associated services, physician and specialty practices.
That new name is expected to be announced this summer.
Anyone with questions about the healthcare services remaining at the McCready FMF in place or those that have transitioned elsewhere may call 410-968-2291.