Luminis Health gets Md. approval for obstetrics services in Prince George’s County

The Maryland Health Care Commission voted Thursday to approve Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center’s (LHDCMC) request to add obstetrics services as part of its comprehensive women’s health program on its Lanham campus, paving the way for a new $300 million patient care pavilion.

Prince George’s County has the second highest birth rate in Maryland, yet there are very few options for women to deliver their babies in the county. LHDCMC is the only acute care hospital in northern Prince George’s County, serving more than a half million residents.

To accommodate the obstetrics services, LHDCMC will build a new patient care pavilion for state-of-the-art women’s and surgical services. The four-story pavilion, part of a multi-phased capital improvement project starting in 2024, will feature a family birth center that includes private rooms for labor and delivery and post-delivery suites, two dedicated C-Section operating rooms, Level II Special Care Nursery and access to family planning, lactation, mental health and other supports maternal care.

The family birth center is scheduled to open in 2028. Once fully operational, 2,000 babies are expected to be delivered each year.

The full campus expansion and renovation, of which the obstetrics services are a key component, is scheduled to take place in five phases over the next six years:

• Phase 1: Work is scheduled to kick off in early 2024 with site development including updating utility infrastructure for water, electric, wastewater systems, telecommunications, and improving the traffic flow and safety throughout the medical center campus
• Phase 2: In the second half of 2024, construction will begin on a new parking garage; adding an additional 350 or more parking spaces and charging for electric vehicles
• Phase 3: The loading dock will be relocated to make way for the patient care pavilion
• Phase 4: In late 2025, construction is expected to start on the patient care pavilion, which will house the new obstetrics services and state-of-the-art operating rooms
• Phase 5: Upon completion of the new pavilion, interior renovations to the medical center’s clinical infrastructure and support services will begin. There will be a redesigned front entrance and lobby, new pharmacy, cafeteria and additional visitor facing services

Luminis Health plans to make a significant investment to fund the $300 million project and is also seeking county, state, federal and philanthropic support. The expansion will create more than 100 full-time positions, including physicians, nurses, technicians, social workers and support staff.

When Luminis Health was formed, the health system made a commitment to increase high-quality, accessible, safe health care in Prince George’s County. Since 2019, approximately $110 million has been invested at LHDCMC, including its joint investment with Prince George’s County to open a new Behavioral Health Pavilion to provide comprehensive mental health services. LHDCMC has also expanded surgical services to include general abdominal, bariatric and bladder surgeries and opened a new Ob-Gyn practice in Greenbelt.