AAMC breaks ground on new mental health hospital

Anne Arundel Medical Center has broken ground on the construction of its mental health hospital. During the groundbreaking ceremony, held Wednesday, June 20, hospital officials also announced the facility will be named the J. Kent McNew Family Medical Center.

The McNew family has been connected to AAMC for nearly 50 years. The late Nancy McNew was an AAMC nurse from 1970 to 2006, first as a cardiac care nurse and then as the first nurse leader of Infection Control. Kent McNew served on the AAMC Board of Trustees from 2005 to 2012.

To commemorate the groundbreaking, longtime supporters of the project, including Congressman John Sarbanes, Congressman Anthony Brown, Maryland Secretary of Health Robert Neall, Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch, Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh, and the offices of Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, joined AAMC President and CEO Victoria Bayless and Board of Trustees Chair Gary Jobson.

READ MORE: CEO Message: Mental health hospital approved

The J. Kent McNew Family Medical Center will be located on Riva Road next to Pathways, AAMC’s substance use and co-occurring disorder treatment facility. It is scheduled to open in summer 2020.

The 16-bed facility will double Anne Arundel County’s inventory of mental health beds and serve up to 900 patients a year who would otherwise be transferred out of the area.

When complete, the campus will provide:

  • Inpatient mental health care
  • A psychiatric partial hospitalization program
  • Intensive outpatient programs
  • Residential and outpatient substance use services
  • Referral and care coordination to community-based treatment and support services

AAMC currently provides many of these services in locations throughout the county. Offering a full spectrum of services at one location will allow for coordinated care and improved patient outcomes.