Special to The Dorchester Banner/UMSMC Ida Jane Baker, president of the Dorchester General Hospital Foundation and past president of the hospital Auxiliary, presented a check for $82,000 to UM Shore Regional Health at the Open House celebration of UM Shore Medical Pavilion at Dorchester. The funds were raised from the Foundation’s 2013 Annual Appeal, to which the Auxiliary pledged $50,000. Pictured are from left: Ken Kozel, president and CEO, UM Shore Regional Health; Dr. Ahmed Abdel-Gawad, Shore Pediatrics-Cambridge; June McKelvey, 1st vice president of the Auxiliary; Ida Jane Baker; Michele Wilson, vice president of physician services, UM Shore Regional Health; Dr. William Huffner, chief medical officer, UM Shore Regional Health; and Auxiliary members, Diane McCarthy and Nancy Linder.[/caption]

CAMBRIDGE — University of Maryland Shore Regional Health and its affiliate, University of Maryland Shore Medical Group, recently celebrated the opening of University of Maryland Shore Medical Pavilion at Dorchester with an Open House event.

The renovated medical office building located at 400 Byrn St. in Cambridge, on the campus of University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Dorchester, provides updated office space for Ahmed Abdel-Gawad, MD, FAAP, and Gina Exantus-Bernard, MD, FAAP, of Shore Pediatrics-Cambridge, and for medical specialists including Walid Kamsheh, MD, of Shore Neurology and Sleep Medicine and S. Robert Hanna Jr., MD, and R. Bruce Helmly, MD, of Chesapeake Cardiology.

The project, totaling approximately $600,000, was funded by UM Shore Regional Health and with generous pledges from the Dorchester General Hospital Auxiliary and the Dorchester General Hospital Foundation. The Foundation, overseen by president, Ida Jane Baker, and generously supported by members of the local community, committed funds toward the project in its early stages, including monies raised from its 2013 annual appeal, totaling approximately $82,000, which were earmarked for the construction. The Auxiliary, whose team of volunteers raises funds to support programs, equipment and services at UM Shore Medical Center at Dorchester, pledged $50,000 to the Foundation’s appeal for the project.

“We are so fortunate to be a part of a generous community that recognizes the need to support our local hospital and its services,” comments Ida Jane Baker, president, Dorchester General Hospital Foundation. “Because of the community’s support from our 2013 annual appeal and thanks to the Auxiliary, which is a steadfast supporter of the hospital, local residents will now have centralized access to local pediatricians and other medical specialists making care and treatment more convenient.”

Mrs. Baker continues, “Through their commitment to Shore Medical Center at Dorchester and University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, members of our local community have a significant impact on the quality health care that we have available in Dorchester County.”

“Shore Regional Health is committed to providing high quality, accessible health care services to the residents of Dorchester County,” comments Kenneth Kozel, MBA, FACHE, president and CEO, UM Shore Regional Health. “We are most grateful for the generosity of our hospital Auxiliary, the Foundation and the members of the local community, who have made it possible for us to complete this project.”

Mr. Kozel continues, “Our mission at Shore Regional Health is ‘Creating Healthier Communities Together.’ Through partnerships such as these, we are doing just that – by providing our community with convenient, centralized access to expert medical providers, we are creating an environment where consultation, care and treatment are more convenient, improving the overall health and wellbeing of our communities.”

University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, part of University of Maryland Medical System, is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for the more than 170,000 residents of the region including Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties.