Officials in Prince George’s County, Maryland, expect a new medical office building to have a huge impact on the health of residents in the county.
Ground was broken Wednesday on The Ella at Carillon — a 125,000-thousand-square-foot, Class A medical office space adjacent to the new University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center.
Prince George’s County has some of the poorest health outcomes in Maryland, and many residents tend to go elsewhere for the medical care they need. The county government and developers are working to address that.
“This is a part of a continuum of healthcare that is also long overdue,” County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said.
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The plan is to attract doctors who will grow their practices in what will soon be downtown Largo — an area that will be filled with shops, dining, nightlife and greenspace.
“We’re trying to create here an outdoor community where we’re going to have a central park that has a gathering place, a stage, we can play music, we can have events, we can have an outdoor skating rink,” Development RPAI Assistant Vice President Craig Friedson said.
When hospitals are constructed, the expectation is medical offices will follow, providing a network of healthcare — something the county has failed to attract at most of its existing hospital sites.
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“I think the lack of practice care, or practice groups, is because there hasn't been quality hospitals, and they haven't been able to attract the doctors,” Friedson said.
Stats show where basic healthcare is failing in the county.
“In the Greenbelt area, the life expectancy is about 78 to 80 years,” said Maryland Del. Jazz Lewis (D-District 24). “Suitland in the southern part of our county, it’s about 60 years. There’s close to a 20-year life expectancy gap.”
The plan is for thriving medical facilities to anchor this development and the future health of county residents.
“The first thing that we must focus on and one of the major priorities of this administration is making sure that we are investing in the health of the people who are here,” Alsobrooks said.
The Ella at Carillon is expected to be completed by fall of next year, but the rest of the development is going to be mixed use and very dense, according to the developer. They're developing it in phases and expect it to take another 10-to-20 years to be complete.
In addition to retail, dining and office space, the Carillon is expected to include an amphitheater, apartments, two Marriot hotels and homes. It's been likened to downtown Silver Spring.
