The Campaign for UMMC Midtown Campus

Here at UMMC Midtown Campus, our passion is all about partnering with people to achieve their best health, especially for our neighboring communities where stark disparities exist. Our commitment is to make positive, transformational change for the people we serve and those we train.

— Alison Brown, MPH, BSN, President, UMMC Midtown Campus

OUR CASE IN BRIEF

The West Baltimore Community suffers from astounding levels of poor health, higher rates of illness and lower life expectency—connected to underlying social determinants and health disparities.

The individuals who live here navigate a complicated health care system as they juggle appointments with doctors and other health care providers in multiple locations, sometimes miles or cities apart. As a result, patients’ needs are addressed episodically rather than holistically.

In particular, this system of care fails those individuals with multiple—often related—health issues such as diabetes; lung, heart or kidney disease; and other health challenges.

So, how do we provide better care for the West Baltimore Community and the growing number of people faced with multiple health challenges? Streamlined care that:

• Expands our primary care capacity

• Creates a hub of connected and coordinated care

• Places the patient at the center, partnering with each person within our community to achieve their best health

Our Vision: Transformed Health Equity for West Baltimore and Beyond

At the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), our mission across two campuses is to provide health care services for Baltimore City, the State of Maryland, and the nation. The formulation of a community health and primary care strategy focused on the West Baltimore Community is a joint strategic priority among UMMC, University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and its clinical departments, University of Maryland Faculty Physicians, Inc. (UMFPI), and all UMB professional schools (referred to here as, “UM Partners”).

UMMC Midtown Campus plays a crucial role in the enterprise-wide approach to working with the West Baltimore Community. We understand the growing needs

of our patients; have invested in the new Outpatient Tower facilities and our outstanding care providers; and have recommitted to our determination and desire to provide accessible, equitable and compassionate care to our patients. Now it is time to invite our community to help us fully achieve our mission to make positive, transformational change for the people we serve.

UMMC Midtown Campus is embarking on the first phase of THE CAMPAIGN FOR UMMC MIDTOWN CAMPUS. Our primary focus is to secure $10M in philanthropic support to innovate in population health, cultivate the community partnerships, and focus on health equity in a way that creates sustained impact. We will improve the quality of experience and outcomes for our patients by prioritizing: $5M

Primary Care $4M Connected Specialty Care $1M Education & Essential Partnerships

UMMC MIDTOWN CAMPUS AT A GLANCE

• Baltimore City Dept. of Health Designation as a Level One Hospital

Addressing Opioid Epidemic in 2019 and 2022

• In pursuit of Magnet™ Designation for Nursing

Excellence

• 144 Total Operating Beds

• 4,700 Inpatient Admissions

• 110,000 Outpatient Clinic Visits

• 19,110 Emergency Dept. Visits

• 527 Medical Staff (441 UMSOM Faculty)

COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY

UMMC Midtown Campus is an important asset to the people we serve as an academic medical center with strong historical ties to the West Baltimore Community. For more than 140 years, UMMC Midtown Campus has been providing health care to generations of Baltimoreans and Marylanders alike.

UMMC’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) was informed by the community, health experts, social determinants of health, and health statistics, and identifies the following top priorities as critical community health needs for adults and children:

Adult Health Priorities

1. Substance Use Disorder

2. Mental Health

3. Chronic Disease Management (Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Kidney, Lung, HIV)

Children’s Health Priorities

1. Mental Health (Adverse Childhood Events, ACEs)

2. Obesity/Nutrition

3. Asthma

4. Maternal and Child Health

Social Determinants of Health Priorities

1. Employment and Career Opportunities

2. Neighborhood Safety and Violence Prevention

3. Affordable Housing and Homelessness

MEDICAL AND SURGICAL PROBLEMS

73% of patients live in Baltimore City

54% of those patients are from West Baltimore

PSYCHIATRIC AND BEHAVORIAL HEALTH PROGRAMS

53% of patients are Baltimore City residents

25% from central Maryland

24% from other regions of Maryland

— Stephen Davis, MBBS, Chair of the Dept. of Medicine, UMSOM

“Medicine is a team sport. Inside the new Outpatient Tower, the UMMC Midtown Campus supports our team of specialized experts with the resources we need to improve community health and to serve our region.

UMMC has developed an Implementation Plan for each of the priorities identified. Both UMMC Downtown and Midtown campuses have committed to prioritizing:

• Community health improvement and equity

• Local talent and developing talent

• Buying and sourcing materials and products from local vendors with a focus on minority-, women-, and black-owned businesses

• Investing locally by targeting education and youth development programs

• Engaging 10,000 employees in community building activities.

There has been landmark progress made over the years, but there is still much work to be done. That is why we stand by our unwavering commitment to make a palpable difference in our community.

Meet Wanda

Wanda is a Baltimore resident and one of UMMC Midtown Campus’ patients who has directly benefited from the “Connected Care” model. Together with our outstanding care providers, Wanda is BUILDING UP HER HEALTH. Here’s how:

PRIMARY CARE

Wanda receives her primary care from Dr. Jeffrey Gerbino at Midtown Health Center. During a visit, she was experiencing pain in her leg and had an ulcer that would not heal. Dr. Gerbino referred Wanda to the Wound Healing Center to meet with the appropriate specialists.

CONNECTED SPECIALTY CARE

Wound Healing Center

While at the Wound Healing Center, a member of the Vascular Center team met with her to discuss her leg pain. An infection was identified in her leg, and she was admitted to the hospital due to lack of blood flow.

Vascular Center Team

In March 2021, Dr. Gitlitz performed Wanda’s first bypass. After surgery, Dr. Rafael, director of the Wound Healing Center, followed up with her to reassess her leg’s blood flow. It was determined through collaborative efforts that she would need another bypass, which was performed by vascular surgeon, Dr. Chaparala, in October 2021.

Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology

Wanda also has diabetes and is seen by Dr. Melhem in the Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology. Throughout Wanda’s vascular surgeries, Dr. Melhem was able to connect with her expanding care team to provide insights, receive updates, and coordinate her overall care.

The UMMC Midtown Campus team gave me the best care and all the doctors I need to see were here, in one place. I would have lost my leg if they hadn’t discovered my lack of blood flow. I felt loved and I appreciate it.”

— Wanda Kelly

THE CAMPAIGN FOR UMMC MIDTOWN CAMPUS

PRIMARY CARE

The Foundation of Population Health

$5M

Although several Federally Qualified Health Centers in the city serve a significant number of families and children, significant gaps remain with insufficient capacity and access to comprehensive primary care. Health education, lifestyle management, preventive care and early detection of disease is proven to extend life expectancy, improve the quality of life, benefit communities and save health care costs. This is why primary care is the bedrock for improving the health of a population.

Midtown Health Center

The UMMC Midtown Campus has operated a primary care center with two to three providers for more than 10 years and has recently expanded the Midtown Health Center. The new center relocated to the 10th floor of the Outpatient Tower, allowing it to grow to eight primary care providers and 23 exam rooms to serve more than 12,000 individuals with comprehensive primary care and coordination with specialists and social support services.

This center also serves as an important educational site for UMMC Midtown Campus’s internal medicine resident trainees and the UM School of Nursing primary care Nurse Practitioner students.

Access to Screenings and Health Education

For more than 20 years, the UMMC Midtown Campus Community Health Education Center (CHEC) has offered tens of thousands of free health screenings and laboratory tests for HIV, diabetes, prostate-specific antigen, and other disease markers at no-cost. The CHEC provides educational programs designed to empower individuals to take control of their health and partners with community groups, churches, health fairs, and schools to bring health and lifestyle education directly to Baltimore residents. In West Baltimore, many neighborhoods are historically underserved and longstanding health disparities are well documented—making CHEC programs and services more important today than ever before.

The center comprises exam rooms for blood draws and to test blood pressure, cholesterol, pregnancy, glucose, and HIV. Further, new multipurpose classrooms and conference rooms include a health library and learning center to teach patients preventive care and classes to help instill healthy nutritional habits. The center operates at hours convenient for the people served. Individuals receive assistance in obtaining resources for treatment and arranging care within the Outpatient Tower that same day, if needed.

Meeting Our Patients’ Needs

As we learn more about our patients and the social determinants of health, UMMC Midtown Campus continues to invest in programs and specialties that address those needs, which include:

• Primary Care

• Center for Addiction Medicine (CAM)

• Inpatient, Outpatient and “Day Hospital” Psychiatric Care

• University of Maryland Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology (UMCDE)

UMMC Midtown Campus helps more than 15,000 people a year manage health issues and offers clinical expertise in virology, access to clinical research trials, and nursing and social work services focused on the needs of individuals with HIV/AIDS and other chronic viral diseases. Philanthropic support will enable us to expand our reach and impact to the community.

CONNECTED SPECIALTY CARE

$4M

Even prior to COVID, the number of adults in America with multiple health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, asthma and other conditions was recognized as a major public health crisis. More than 27% of adults in America were diagnosed with two or more such conditions in 2018. The numbers were even higher in Maryland—with almost 30% of adults in the state diagnosed with at least two complex health conditions.

Those burdened with multiple health issues know all too well how hard these conditions are to manage within a patchwork system of specialists working miles or even cities apart. It is also difficult for their providers in disparate sites to regularly collaborate on the best plan of care.

Outpatient Tower: A Hub of Connected Care

The new Outpatient Tower removes these barriers, offering the below specialties, staffed by clinical faculty of UMSOM under one roof:

Cardiology - Heart Center

Diabetes and Endocrinology - University of Maryland Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology (UMCDE)

Gastrointestinal

Infectious Diseases - Together, Healing, Reaching, Inspiring to achieve Victory or Illness and Embrace life (THRIVE) Center

Ophthalmology - Friedenwald Eye Center

Nephrology/Kidney Care

Primary Care

Pulmonary/Lung Disease - Center for Pulmonary Health

Sleep Disorders - University of Maryland Sleep Disorders Center

Primary Care Coordination

UMMC staff work closely with primary care providers and other specialists to coordinate patient care and create a patient-centered environment. These subspecialists provide care that can be the difference needed to maintain good health and avoid medical complications. By housing related subspecialties in the same building, the staff will have more opportunities to collaborate on complex cases so they can provide the very best in patient-centered care.

TOP SPECIALTY REFERRALS from Midtown Health

Centers’s Primary Care

Providers

1. Cardiology

2. Diabetes/Endrocrinology

3. Ophthalmology*

4. Vascular Surgery

5. Nephrology*

6. Gastroenterology*

The new tower serves as a critical component to our city’s public health infrastructure and enable us to deliver services more effectively and efficiently. We are proud to work alongside our community members as well as our city and state partners including the City of Baltimore, the Department of Health, police, EMT, neighborhood schools and other community-based partners to work tirelessly toward a common goal: a healthy, thriving Baltimore.

— Marilyn Carp, UMMC Board Member

* located in Outpatient Tower

COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION AND ESSENTIAL PARTNERS $1M Education

At UMMC Midtown Campus, UMSOM faculty physicians work alongside community physicians to provide patients with a team of experienced professionals with a wide breadth of expertise. Through this partnership, patients also can participate in clinical research trials that target better outcomes for people with one or several chronic diseases. UMSOM faculty investigators conduct more than 140 clinical research studies at UMMC Midtown Campus.

UMMC Midtown Campus is a significant site for the education and training of UMSOM medical students, residents, and fellows; more than 30 residency training programs include rotations at Midtown Campus, including trainees from the Departments of Psychiatry, Ophthalmology, General Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Medicine, OB/GYN and Orthopedics. More than 50 post graduate fellows also rotate to UMMC Midtown Campus and represent 12 subspecialties.

UMMC Midtown Campus has a rich history as a teaching hospital. It serves as a clinical training location for students from many schools of nursing and supports the training of operating room technicians, laboratory and radiology technologists, nursing assistants, physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, behavioral health assistants, pharmacy technicians, and University of Maryland School of Pharmacy PharmD students.

Essential Partners

Together, the UM Partners will strive to achieve goals that include:

Connected

Primary

The UM Partners completed an in-depth analysis of existing programs, services, and resources that focus on population health and primary care. All entities will leverage existing resources, make strategic investments, and contribute to a “Health Neighborhood” strategy to maximize overall health and wellness for Baltimore and Maryland residents.

The Possibilities are Endless

Increased philanthropic support to UMMC Midtown Campus will provide the opportunity to expand training across the wide of array of health professions, whether it be for people living in our neighboring the West Baltimore Community who are pursuing entry level certifications to begin a career in health care or to support the education of people pursuing advanced degrees. Our community engagement and workforce development teams build relationships with our partner elementary, middle, and high schools to help young people see what is possible within the walls of a hospital and to inspire them to pursue a career in healthcare.

THE CALL TO ACTION

Providing “Primary and Connected Care” might sound simple; but like any traditional structure, health care models have strong customs and culture behind them. Bucking the status quo is sometimes difficult. Too often, excellent clinicians treat the problems they were trained to treat, but they don’t consider a person’s entire health and social support needs.

There is a better way. As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, we must shed the old ways of doing business to meet the challenges of our times. In fact, the last three years have underscored the growing need for more integrated healthcare to address the serious impacts of “underlying conditions” and stark disparities. For our doctors, nurses, social workers and other health care professionals at the University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus, this is clearly the right time to come together to make fundamental, collaborative, and connected care accessible for all.

Today, UMMC Midtown is charting a new course: One that promises to improve the quality of the health care we provide to the communities we serve, here in Baltimore City and from across the region, particularly for the most vulnerable, atrisk people struggling with multiple, complex health issues. People deserve more efficient, effective, and equitable care that will enable them to live their best lives— and keep them out of the hospital.

We feel they deserve no less. UMMC has invested in Midtown Campus and now we ask you to join us. Our need is to raise more than $10M from philanthropic support to fund the core components that will make better health a reality for our patients and serve as a model for cities across the nation.

Help us make a difference.

The UMMC Midtown Campus is developing the cures for tomorrow while delivering the care of today.

— Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, President and CEO, UMMS

At the University of Maryland Medical Center, we believe it takes a bold vision and steadfast dedication to make a real, lasting difference in our community and we are up for the challenge. The new Outpatient Tower at UMMC Midtown Campus is a symbol of our progress and will be an important vehicle in improving health outcomes in our neighboring communities and across the region.

— Bert O’Malley, MD, President and CEO, UMMC