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The University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s project is estimated to cost around $550 million. Moore said on Monday that since he was inaugurated, the state has committed $100 million toward the hospital.

Before breaking out the shovels, Moore spoke to hundreds of attendees on what the hospital will achieve for rural Marylanders in need of improved healthcare access.

“At a time when most things are leaning away from rural health, in Maryland, we’re leaning in,� Moore said. “We’re showing that you cannot have a growing and a thriving state if every part of the state is not seen and heard and recognized in that growth.�

Moore, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) and other politicians emphasized the importance of bringing high quality healthcare to the Mid-Shore. The medical center is expected to attract doctors and other healthcare professionals to Easton’s workforce, a point Moore hammered home Monday afternoon.

Mohan Suntha, president and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical System, thanked many partners for their commitments to the often-stalled project that has been discussed for more than a decade.

“We are delivering on a long-held promise,� Suntha said. “And the future is so bright for the Mid-Shore, for the medical system and the state of Maryland.�

Shore Regional Health first applied for a certificate of need to relocate its Easton hospital on Sept. 7, 2012. Industry changes, fiscal concerns and shifting project plans delayed the timeline.

This January, the Maryland Health Care Commission finally approved the certificate of need application.

Following Monday’s welcome celebration, Moore told reporters he noticed the project was stalling when he began his term. He said it became a “priority� for his administration to remove “the barriers and the regulatory red tape.�

“It’s too long that we’ve had people on the Eastern Shore who have been left behind,� he said.

The hospital will be built on around 230 acres just north of the Easton Airport and across from the Talbot County Community Center. It is replacing the University of Maryland Shore Medical Center that is located downtown at 219 S Washington St.

Site preparation construction is currently underway, with the bulk of construction beginning in the spring of 2025. The medical center is expected to be completed in the summer of 2028.

The campus will include a 325,000-square-foot, six-level main tower, complete with 122 licensed beds, seven operating rooms and a helipad. An adjacent building for offices and outpatient services will be 60,000 square feet.

The new hospital will serve as the primary inpatient hospital for Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties. Sen. Johnny Mautz (R-Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, Wicomico) called it a “transformative� addition for the Eastern Shore.

“I plan to spend the rest of my life here. I think my children plan to spend the rest of their life here,� Mautz said. “And one critical factor is are we going to be able to get healthcare. I think with this new hospital, we’re going to get it.�

Moore echoed Mautz’s sentiments after Monday’s celebration, adding that he is confident the medical center will attract quality doctors to the Eastern Shore and benefit residents for the foreseeable future.

“It’s fundamentally unfair that if a person needs to see a specialist, that they somehow have to cross the bridge in order to do it,� Moore said. “It’s not fair.

“And if you want to be able to recruit the top talent, you have to make sure that you have a world-class facility. And that’s exactly what this investment is going to bring.�