(10/18) A project to bring all-accessible entrances to the Catoctin Medical Center is now one step closer to completion. Following the approval by the Town Council of a proposal by Chief Administrative Officer Jim Humerick to submit an application for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to fund the project.

CDBG is a federally funded program designed to assist county and municipal governments with activities that are directed toward the enhancement of neighborhoods, housing opportunities, economic development and improvement of public facilities and services, Humerick said.

The funding would be utilized toward American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant ramps for the front and rear entrances of the Catoctin Medical Center. The current rear entrance ramp is steeper than the ADA allowance as the requirements were not mandatory for the ramp’s initial construction in 1977.

Requirements for ADA compliance is a 1:12 ratio of 1 inch rise for every 12 inches of length. The center’s current ramp slope is 1.3 inches every 12 inches, "To many of us, this may not seem like an impactful difference, but it absolutely is," Humerick said. The front of the building only has stairs and does not have an ADA accessible entrance.

The proposed project will remove the current rear ramp and replace it with one that is ADA compliant and install a ramp to the front of the building.

According to data from the Catoctin Medical Group Family Practice, of the 10,000 patients that visit the upper floor’s family practice each year, approximately 7,000 are elderly and/ or have mobility issues and need assistance.

The estimated cost of the project and cost requested through the funding is $151,425 with no cost to the town.

As the ramp project is beyond the budget of the nonprofit medical center, town staff and the center’s board of directors have worked together to find where the funding could be applied for ADA compliance and help patients, according to Humerick.

CDBG funds have been utilized by the town in years previous for other nonprofit agency projects including a new food bank parking lot and senior center handicap accessible bathroom doors.

Mayor Kinnaird thanked Humerick for his hard work in establishing the application for grant possibilities. "We sit up here and read a piece of paper and it gets done but the truth of the matter is you put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into every one of these programs," Kinnaird said.