Urbana medical center plans are ‘work in progress’

Hspital officials are beginning to decide what services to offer in Urbana, he said, including medical imaging.

He said the medical center would house physicians’ offices, and officials are debating whether or not to provide immediate care. There with be also be a laboratory in which nurses could collect blood or tissue specimens, and do work-ups on them or send them off to other labs, Grandinett said.

‘‘It’s a work in progress. We’ll see what services are needed, and let it grow on its own,” he said.

Grandinett said Thomas Klienhanzl, the hospital’s CEO, is committed to providing health care in growing parts of Frederick County. ‘‘It’s important to take it beyond the four walls of the hospital. ... It’s fairly obvious that Urbana is a growing area,” he said.

One aspect of the project that Grandinett said is particularly interesting is the inclusion of a multi-specialty doctor’s office, in which physicians specializing in different types of practice would rotate.

He said this would include pediatricians, orthopedic doctors, and ob-gyn. ‘‘It’s kind of a neat concept,” Grandinett said.

The medical center will be a 20,000-square-foot structure near the Landon House property on the corner of Md. routes 80 and 355.The building will be owned by Fingerboard Properties LLC. The hospital will rent one floor, totaling about 10,000 square feet, Grandinett said.

Steven O’Philips, principal planner with the county’s Department of Development Review, said the project’s site plan will expire in August 2009, by which time construction must start.

O’Philips said other doctors will maintain private practices on the second floor of the medical center. This site plan received approval a few months ago, he said.

There are also other buildings, including two restaurants and a bank, planned for Urbana Commons.

These sites have not yet been granted site plan approval, but O’Philips said they would not likely need to go through further public review unless they intend to deviate from their previously proposed plan.

The Gazette’s Construction Connection column addresses the community’s questions and concerns regarding growth and development in southeastern Frederick County. The column runs twice each month in the New Market⁄Urbana edition of The Gazette. If you have any questions about growth that you want to see addressed in The Gazette, please call New Market⁄Urbana reporter Chris Brown at 301-846-2132, or e-mail him at chbrown@gazette.net.