One year into a $105-million, four-year expansion project, Howard County General Hospital officials said this week that the project is scheduled to be completed on time by 2011.

The project will include a new four-story tower, an employee parking garage and extensive renovation of the interior of the hospital. Eventually all patient rooms in the hospital will be private and the hospital's capacity will increase by 42 beds, from 186 to 228, according to hospital officials.

"The project is on schedule and on budget and we are very pleased," hospital President Victor Broccolino said Sept. 8.

Hospital officials broke ground on the project in September 2007. The employee parking garage was finished in August 2008, ending the first phase of the project, according to Broccolino.

The second phase of the project will be the completion of a new four-story wing located on Cedar Lane. That phase is expected to be completed by 2009. The third and final phase, the renovations to the existing hospital, will be completed by 2011, Broccolino said.

During the third stage, patient rooms will be renovated to make them private. The hospital's operating rooms will also be expanded to house more of the equipment necessary for small-scale surgeries such as hip replacement and gall bladder removal, Broccolino said.

The four-story wing will consist of three floors containing 30 beds each and an underground level.

The completion of the employee parking garage has freed up spaces in the existing surface parking lots for patients and visitors, Broccolino said.

Howard County General Hospital is owned by parent company Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Broccolino 'optimistic'

The plan is to finance the project with $40 million in bonds issued by the hospital, $35 million from hospital profits and $30 million in donations.

The donations, which stand at $20 million so far, include $7 million from the Howard County government; $2 million from the Rouse Co. Foundation; $4.2 million from The Horizon Foundation; $1 million from The Lundy Family Foundation; and $1 million from J.P. Bolduc, chairman of the Columbia-based JPB Enterprises Inc. of Columbia, a privately owned investment bank, and his wife, Evelyn T. Bolduc, chairwoman of the Howard Hospital Foundation.

Broccolino said he was "optimistic" about getting the remaining $10 million needed for the renovations.

He said he plans to ask the county government for an additional $3 million and was hoping to tap other county-wide funding sources to reach the donations goal.

County Executive Kenneth Ulman said he is a strong supporter of the hospital expansion but would need to evaluate the request for more money.

"It's important for the county to invest in that project, in my opinion," Ulman said. "Whether or not we can allocate additional resources will be answered as we get closer to the budget."

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