The Queen Anne’s County Commissioners and officials from University of Maryland Medical Systems and its affiliate Shore Health Systems are making plans for an historic groundbreaking.

“This has been over two years in the making and we are really looking forward to getting started on the construction of this project,” said Commission President Gene Ransom, referring to the history of the project, officially called the Queen Anne’s County Medical Campus.

“We really appreciate our partners in this endeavor; the Cooper- Nesbit family, University of Maryland Medical Systems, Shore Health Systems and the citizens of QAC,” said Commissioner Eric Wargotz, M.D. All of these efforts will further improve the health care access and quality for our citizens, he added.

The medical campus will house the emergency room facility, the first of its kind on the Eastern Shore, and two additional medical buildings.

The groundbreaking will be on Monday, August 17 at 11 a.m. at the construction site on the south side of U.S. Route 50 and Nesbit Road in Grasonville.

Discussions about the need for an emergency medical facility were being held as early as 2006 because of traffic concerns along Route 50 and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. In 2007 the County Commissioners fully supported state legislation which allowed Queen Anne’s County to acquire a Certificate of Need to build an emergency medical facility. In 2008, the Commissioners signed a partnership agreement with University of Maryland Medical Systems for operation of the facility, which will be staffed by Shore Health Systems. The facility is set to open in late 2010.

The 15,700 square foot facility will have 11 treatment rooms and on site diagnostic imaging and laboratory services. The facility will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is designed to handle about 7,000 patients in its first year.