The Maryland Health Care Commission voted Thursday to approve a proposed $543 million hospital in Prince George's County, according to The Washington Business Journal.
The proposed regional medical center is a joint venture between Cheverly, Md.-based Dimensions Healthcare System and Baltimore-based University of Maryland Medical System. It is designed to replace the county's existing trauma center.
The new facility's quest for approval from state regulators has been slow. Dimensions Healthcare and UMMS submitted an application for a certificate of need in 2013, but regulators didn't review it until April 2015, according to the report. Competing hospitals in the region, such as Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis and Doctor's Community Hospital in Lanham, opposed the project and submitted written comments to regulators calling for closer scrutiny of the plan's details.
Throughout the process, supporters of the project — including state and county elected officials — fought with Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to garner $55 million in operating subsidies for Dimensions, which has seen its revenue decline for years, according to the report. The health system has since secured about $400 million in county and state taxpayer money to support construction of the new facility.
Under the current plan, UMMS would become the new facility's sole operator and owner. Construction is likely to begin in the spring, with completion expected in 2020, according to the report.