LifeBridge Health opens emergency department, specialty clinics at Grace Medical Center

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Fourteen months after acquiring the former Bon Secours Baltimore Hospital, LifeBridge Health Tuesday debuted a brand-new emergency department as well as renovated primary care/specialty care clinics and surgery suite at Grace Medical Center in west Baltimore.

The new ED opened its first full day Tuesday with the renovated primary and specialty clinics opening the week of Jan. 25.

Along with the renovations of the facility, LifeBridge Health has also expanded medical services at Grace Medical Center by adding several new medical specialists, such as a dedicated OB/GYN, pediatrician, ophthalmologist and orthopedic specialist. New services also include 3D mammography.

Community has always been at the center of LifeBridge Health’s plans at Grace Medical Center. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the health system plans an online virtual community celebration Jan. 25 at 11 a.m. This celebration will include video tours of the emergency department and clinic spaces as well as remarks from special guests, including Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Pastor Rodney Morton from Central Baptist Church, which sits across from Grace Medical Center at the corner of Baltimore and Pulaski Streets.

The new emergency department at Grace covers 17,000 square feet with 27 state-of-the art treatment rooms, along with a new lobby and ambulance entrance. The new emergency department also has negative pressure rooms, allowing for isolation for people with suspected infectious diseases such as COVID-19. There is a designated pod for patients with psychiatric or behavioral health concerns. A brand-new CT (computed tomography) scanner is located within the department to allow for rapid diagnosis of conditions such as heart attacks and strokes.

The Grace emergency department sees an average of 20,000 patients a year.

The third floor at Grace Medical Center also received a complete renovation and will be home to the clinic spaces for primary and specialty care.

A variety of physicians will see patients here. These include specialists in orthopedics and ophthalmology, as well as cardiology and cardiac testing. Grace Medical Center will also offer outpatient clinics for endocrinology, vascular, urology, podiatry, gastro-intestinal and infectious diseases.

There are other services on the third floor, such as 3D mammography, a lab and phlebotomy area. Health Care for the Homeless will have its west Baltimore clinic on the third floor.

In support of these medical services, Grace Medical Center will also offer a range of “wrap-around services,” such as a care manager and a nurse navigator who can answer patient questions and help them with any concerns around care coordination. A community outreach coordinator will work to provide information on community resources and disease management.

LifeBridge Health also completely renovated the surgery suite on the third floor that includes two brand-new operating rooms and a four-bed pre-operative area and four-bed post anesthesia care unit.

Grace Medical Center will offer elective outpatient surgical procedures for orthopedics, general surgeries, dialysis access placements, urology, ophthalmology cases and more.

The new emergency department and renovated clinic spaces and surgical suites represent completion of Phase One of LifeBridge Health’s plans for Grace Medical Center.

In Phase Two, LifeBridge Health will move forward with variety of infrastructure upgrades. The next major project will be construction of a 20,000 square foot outpatient behavioral health facility. That building is scheduled for completion in 2023.

The health system is also now launching the West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation, an organization that will invest in the wellbeing of the west Baltimore community in areas such as workforce development, mentoring, food access and population health.

The foundation’s board includes community and health professionals who will help to inform programming decisions, and the team has already started to review grant requests. A key component of the foundation’s mission is a community resource center, which will be located on North Calhoun Street, just a few blocks from Grace Medical Center.

Kurt Sommer, former director for community development for LifeBridge Health, has been named as executive director of the West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation. The foundation’s website will launch in a few weeks.