Somerset’s McCready Health merging with PRMC

SOMERSET CO., Md. – There are some changes coming to healthcare in Somerset County. On Monday, McCready announced that it will officially merge with PRMC this fall.

Officials say McCready Health has been struggling financially and the number of people using the hospital have dropped, over the last decade. So PRMC will be taking ownership of McCready around November. But until that change is finalized, officials want the community to know that McCready will continue to provide much needed services in the area.

“In this area, the emergency room is important because we see residents all the time that have been sick injured but they have needs that we are taking care of now and that was really a driving force to be able to maintain that,” says Kathleen Harrison, the CEO of McCready Health.

As for the future, PRMC tells 47 ABC they’ll build a new freestanding medical facility not too far from McCready’s current location. The rehab and nursing home will stay open as normal but surgery and inpatient services will only be offered in Salisbury, once the merger is complete.

Officials also say they want to focus on bringing “population health” to Somerset residents, with the hope that emergency room visits are prevented in the first place. Telemedicine is also a priority for the county because transportation is sometimes an obstacle for people living in rural areas.

“Transportation is definitely more of a challenge. How do you get people to the center that we are building? But how do you get to their homes when it is a much more rural environment? Those are going to be some things were going to have to learn a bit along way,” says Steven Leonard, the President & CEO of Peninsula Regional Health System (PRHS).

As for jobs, McCready has about 300 employees right now. 47 ABC is told that most of those workers will be able to keep their jobs when the merger finalizes. PRMC says they’ll work with McCready’s inpatient and surgery employees to see how they can transition those people, since those services will no longer be offered in Crisfield.

Officials also tell 47 ABC that a merger like this is not uncommon in the health care industry. They say it’s a way for hospitals to come together to serve a population better.