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FEDERALSBURG – Occupying what was once a patch of Federalsburg farmland is a gleaming new health facility.
On Tuesday, July 15, and Thursday, July 17, Denton-based Choptank Community Health opened its doors to visitors to spend an hour touring the brightly lighted and coastal calm-inspired 24,000 square-foot building at 320 Hargraves Drive, behind the Food Lion shopping center.
Although the health center opened Jan. 6, a blizzard prevented the grand opening from taking place at the time. So, on a hot and humid summer day, the cool interior was a refreshing oasis as visitors strolled through the facility.
“It’s just been wonderful that we've been able to bring this beautiful building, the services, to the community of Federalsburg,” CEO Sara Rich said. “I’m so grateful for all the community partners that have supported us.”
The $12 million dollar project received funding from the town of Federalsburg, Caroline County, the Caroline Foundation, a state bond bill, Maryland Department of Health Federally Qualified Health Center Capital, Congressional-directed spending, and federal Health Resources and Services Administration capital.
Rich said she’s still “wild” about the facility when she walks in. “When our patients come in, they're just really excited to see it, too,” she said. “This is here in this community, and we're here to take care of the community.”
“It’s absolutely great because it serves the purpose here,” Caroline County Commission Vice President Larry Porter said. “We've been fighting for health care access here in Caroline County (for years), and Choptank has been a very integral part of it.”
Nearly 30 staff, including interpreters, serve about 7,400 unique patients at the Federalsburg center. The building is triple the size of the former pre-fabricated building around the corner, which was sold to Lywood Electric. It’s the largest of Choptank’s seven health centers in Caroline, Dorchester, Kent and Talbot counties.
State-of-the-art improvements include furniture and spaces that are easy to disinfect, a separate ambulance canopy and drive-up entrance with a dedicated examination room in the event of another pandemic, and an enhanced air quality system that filters the air in the building three to five times per hour.
In the sunlight-bathed lobby are 55 seats in shades of blue and gray, and six patient services desks. Beyond the lobby are five wings housing medical, dental, behavioral health and population health offices, exam rooms and labs – including a Labcorp office.
“We tried to build the esthetics that would match the environment in which the building is located,” Chief Financial Officer Bill Cottle said. “We’re so excited to be able to offer a beautiful building for our patients who have been so dedicated to Choptank over the years.”
On the hallway walls are murals depicting Caroline County’s rural heritage, as well as photos, including nature snapshots of two birds: an oriole and a raven, a whimsical nod to Maryland’s MLB and NFL teams.
Unique accommodations for those with physical challenges are an ADA-compliant bariatric chair and a capacious ADA-compliant corner exam room.
A 3-room space is designed to accommodate the Maryland Rural Residency Program, a partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine to address physician shortages on the Eastern Shore. The program is slated to begin the summer of 2026.
The dental wing has 10 operatories (one is equipped with an ADA bench), as well as the headquarters for a pediatric dental residency program and Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD), in partnership with NYU Langone Health. Both will rotate to all CCHS sites.
The health center has a dedicated lactation room, a dual-purpose break room equipped with a retractable dividing wall for staff and community space, and EV charging stations installed for future use.
“Everything in here is new or newish,” said Director of Facilities Bill Baxendale. “We did carry over things that were usable from 215 (Bloomingdale Avenue).” Baxendale is quick to credit retired longtime facilities director Brett Meyers for his contributions in making the new building a reality.
The architectural firm who designed the building is George, Miles & Buhr, LLC (GMB) of Salisbury, and Harper and Sons, Inc. was the general contractor.
For more information about Choptank Community Health System, Inc., including hours and days of operation in Federalsburg, visit choptankhealth.org.
