Gov. Larry Hogan speaks at a news conference at the reopening of Laurel Medical Center on Wednesday. The facility is being reopened as a hospital for COVID-19 patients. (Screenshot)
Laurel Medical Center has reopened as a hospital for COVID-19 patients pursuant to Gov. Larry Hogan’s executive order that closed medical facilities be reopened to treat those who are infected with the virus.
Hogan spoke at a news conference at the University of Maryland Medical System facility on Wednesday afternoon alongside Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. The reopening comes as Maryland is expecting a spike in the number of patients infected with COVID-19. Prince George’s County is one of the hardest-hit jurisdictions in the state.
“This renovated and reconstructed facility will now provide an additional 135 beds — including 35 intensive care beds — to treat patients infected with COVID-19,” Hogan said. “The Laurel Medical Center is being staffed by nearly 400 contractual medical professionals and health care workers who will be managed by the University of Maryland Medical System.”
Hogan noted that the hospital opened in 1978, the same year his late father, Larry Hogan Sr., was elected Prince George’s county executive. It was initially known as the Greater Laurel Beltsville Hospital; later the name was changed to Laurel Regional Hospital.
