UMMS to build Sparrows Point logistics center
The University of Maryland Medical System plans to open a facility in Sparrows Point to serve as a base for storing and delivering hospital supplies and equipment.
The medical system said Thursday it has signed a lease for and started building a 400,000-square-foot Logistics Operations Center at the Tradepoint Atlantic distribution hub in Baltimore County, an estimated $32 million construction project.
More than 100,000 admitted patients and more than 1.2 million outpatients are seen each year at the system’s 11 hospitals, emergency centers, freestanding medical facilities and urgent care locations. The system uses more than 95 million exam gloves, 3.5 million isolation gowns, 3 million masks, 1 million IV fluid bags and almost 8.5 million needles and syringes annually.
“Our vision is for this new center to function as a logistics hub for the system, which will allow for safer and more efficient operations at every hospital and in every care location,” said Dr. Mohan Suntha, the system’s president and CEO, in a news release.
The center is expected to employ 300 people, including about 150 new positions.
In addition to storage, it also will house the system’s pharmacy operations and clinical engineering operations for equipment staging and repair. The center might be used for laboratory
operations in the future.
Construction is expected to take more than a year. The facility is slated to open in the second quarter of 2025. Currently, supplies
are housed at the system’s hospital and other sites.
The new hub will allow the medical system to consolidate and streamline inventory management and control, and reduce duplication
and waste, officials said. And it will make it easier to purchase certain supplies in bulk and better anticipate industry shortages.
“Having the right items,
in the right place at the right time is key to providing a safe environment for patient care,” said Pat Vizzard, UMMS’ vice president of supply chain management, in the release.