FY23 Annual Report: Growth
More Locations, More Providers
JHCP improves access to care with a new Howard County office and continued growth in Gyn/Ob and cardiology.
By: Karen Nitkin
During the 2023 fiscal year, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians (JHCP) added a primary care practice in Howard County, Maryland, integrated a major Gyn/Ob practice to create Johns Hopkins Medicine Gynecology and Obstetrics, and continued the growth and evolution of its Johns Hopkins Medicine Cardiology program.
These changes, described in detail below, show the growing strength and presence of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians in the region and as an essential part of Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“The growth, through integrations and expansions, aligns with the strategies of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinical Road Map, which calls for increasing health care services in the National Capital Region and in Maryland’s Howard County,” says Steven Kravet, president of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. “As a result, patients across Maryland have increased access to Johns Hopkins care close to where they live and work.”
Columbia North Opens in March
Johns Hopkins Community Physicians opened a new Columbia practice for internal and family medicine on March 20, 2023.
Columbia North, at 8820 Columbia 100 Parkway, marks a fourth primary care location in Howard County, along with a family practice and pediatric practice on Stevens Forest Road and a family practice in Fulton.
Centrally located, with plenty of parking, the 8,400-square-foot space is built with 12 exam rooms and a shared workspace for providers that allows them to directly access exam rooms. This “allows providers to have more cohesion and collaboration with staff, and gives patients a seamless, patient-centered experience,” says medical director Alice Lee, an internal medicine and pediatric provider who moved to the new practice from JHCP’s White Marsh location.
Patients also benefit from rooms that are deliberately uncluttered, with soothing cream-colored walls and furniture, says practice administrator Abby Abraham.
Nurse practitioner Laura Shaw joined the team in May, and the practice could grow to as many as six providers, says Melissa Blakeman, regional medical director for the Maryland suburbs, which includes this Columbia practice.
“Howard County is a growing area, and we want to keep supporting the Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center,” she says.
Growth and a New Name for Johns Hopkins Medicine Gynecology and Obstetrics
On June 26, Signature OB/GYN became part of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, making it part of a unified group of clinics with locations in Columbia, Eldersburg, Fulton, Odenton and Baltimore. The Columbia practice now has 25 providers, including eight devoted to subspecialty care, making it a leading Gyn/Ob center in Central Maryland.
Signature dates to the 1980s, when it was known as Esposito, Hogan, Mayer and Associates. It joined the Johns Hopkins Health System in 2006 but operated independently, explains Stephen Martin, JHCP’s chief of gynecology and obstetrics.
Previously, Signature and JHCP competed for patients in Howard County, even though they were both part of Johns Hopkins. They are now integrated as Johns Hopkins Medicine Gynecology and Obstetrics, with a single management structure, electronic medical record and scheduling system.
“It was hard to have two groups less than a mile from each other competing for patients,” says Lenora Jones, then executive director of operations for JHCP Gyn/Ob. “It didn’t make sense for these separate groups to have to cover calls at the hospital, see patients in the clinic, have surgeries, and not do it in an integrated way. With the integration, we are able to deliver that care more effectively and efficiently.”
The first steps toward integrating the centers began in December 2021, and involved many logistical details related to adding Signature employees and patients to JHCP, from implementing quality metrics to creating a system for patients to make appointments through MyChart.
As part of the integration, the JHCP practice moved from offices it had outgrown on Stevens Forest Road in Columbia, which had 10 exam rooms, to the Signature OB/GYN space on Charter Drive with 38 exam rooms for Gyn/Ob care. With so much space, the practice added school of medicine subspecialties, including gynecologic oncology, minimally invasive surgery, urogynecology and reproductive endocrinology, says Martin.
“We have all of our subspecialties along with general Gyn/Ob in the same office, which is actually something that I don’t think is present anywhere in our health system and is pretty unique in terms of Gyn/Ob practices,” says Martin. “It was large enough to put all those people in without doing any construction whatsoever, which was ideal.”
Big Changes for Johns Hopkins Medicine Cardiology
Cardiac care has been part of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians since 2012, when the Johns Hopkins Health System acquired Maryland Heart, a long-standing practice with 17 cardiologists, and created JHCP Heart Care.
Today, the JHCP cardiology group, rebranded as Johns Hopkins Medicine Cardiology, includes locations in Rockville and Bethesda, as well as within Sibley Memorial Hospital. The group, with 18 physicians, two nurse practitioners and 52 staff members, continues to grow and evolve.
One of the most significant changes in fiscal year 2023 was moving the Heart Care Chevy Chase location to Sibley Memorial Hospital in October 2022. The practice now occupies nearly 3,000 square feet on the first floor of the hospital, with four exam rooms, two cardiac testing rooms and two shared offices.
The move means cardiologists are better able to care for patients, with more coverage at the hospital and more on-site equipment like echocardiograms and treadmills, says Harry Bigham Jr., regional medical director for the Johns Hopkins Health System.
In addition, the Bethesda location has combined with the Silver Spring practice. The move entailed expanding the Bethesda space by 3,553 square feet — to 13,750 square feet — and adding 10 exam rooms, six cardio test rooms and six offices. One of the test rooms will also be used for procedures, says Bigham, such as implanting loop monitor recordings, which are inserted via a syringe and require only a little skin glue to close the incision, and are used to read heartbeat patterns.
“It’s a great tool and it’s so easy to put in, so there’s no reason to eat up time in a hospital for something that takes minutes,” he notes.
The Bethesda location, on Rockledge Drive, also offers nuclear imaging that shows heart function, and a Coumadin clinic that helps patients reduce blood clot risks. Additional renovations will modernize the office, says Bigham, such as upgrading the exam rooms to accommodate computers rather than physical charts and isolating the nuclear center.