During her tenure as CEO, the hospital greatly expanded its obstetrics, behavioral health, cancer, critical care, and surgery programs. In 2009, it opened the Pascal Women’s Center, which provided much-needed obstetric care to the community after a 41-year hiatus. That same year, the medical center opened a new patient tower with 111 additional private rooms. During the last several years, UM BWMC completed a $31 million surgical suite expansion, launched a new electronic medical record system, opened new nursing units, constructed a second state-of-the-art endovascular suite, and increased the number of inpatient beds to the behavioral health and labor and delivery units.
TOWNE INTERVIEW
Karen Olscamp
Retiring President and CEO of University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center By James Houck
fter 12 years of leading University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center, President and Chief Executive Officer Karen E. Olscamp recently announced she will retire this month, January 2021. A native of Buffalo, New York, Olscamp joined the organization in 1987 as an administrative resident and served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for 10 years before she was appointed to CEO in 2008. 18
What’s Up? West County | January/February 2021 | whatsupmag.com
Under Olscamp’s leadership, UM BWMC has not only greatly expanded its services, but continues to elevate the quality of care provided to patients. Over the last several years, UM BWMC has been honored by organizations such as the American Heart Association, US News & World Report, the Maryland Patient Safety Center, and the Leapfrog Group for its delivery of safe, high quality care. “Karen will be greatly missed across the University of Maryland Medical System for her leadership, compassion and wisdom,” says Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, President and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical System. “We offer our deepest thanks for her tireless efforts for almost 34 years.” Just before the busy holiday season started last fall, we talked with Olscamp about her retirement and legacy with the hospital.
What’s Up? Media: I’ll just start with probably the most obvious question, which is, why now? What led to you to the decision to retire? Karen Olscamp: I’ve been thinking about it for some time. Professionally and personally, the time just came together. When I think about BWMC, we’re strategically well positioned. We’ve grown into one of the larger hospitals in Maryland. We had actually the second largest hospital at the University of Maryland, within the University of Maryland Medical System. We have gotten a lot of recognition for the high quality of care. And I think it’s the fabric of our organization to continue to strive for excellence. I think that’s going well. Construction-wise, we always have some projects going on, but in May, it was in middle of COVID, we actually opened up the eighth floor, which is the last floor of our patient care tower. We finished the parking garage. We’ve got a medical office building that’s under construction. Related to COVID, it’s the new normal for some period of time, not leaving during a crisis. What was really important to me also was there is real stability in leadership across the organization. The University of Maryland Medical System has a new CEO. The board chair at BWMC is in the middle of his tenure. We’ve got a really talented executive and leadership team here. There’s real stability in leadership. It all just came together and I’m confident there’s a bright future ahead, and this is the right time to make that change.
