U of Md. medical center expansion to reach milestone

Topping-off ceremony set for $160 million Trauma/Critical Care Tower on Baltimore's west side

The biggest construction project on Baltimore's west side is set to reach a milestone Thursday, when a "topping off" ceremony will be held for the University of Maryland Medical Center's nine-story, $160 million Trauma/Critical Care Tower at Lombard and Penn streets.

When it opens in 2013, the 140,000-square-foot building will significantly expand the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and the medical center's adult and pediatric emergency departments.

Built to connect the Shock Trauma Center with the medical center's Weinberg Building, the new structure will also contain a center for training civilian and military health professionals.

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