Governor O'Malley, County Executive Johnson Announce Plan to Save Prince George's Hospital Center
ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 6, 2008) – Governor Martin O’Malley, Lieutenant Governor Brown, Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson, members of the Prince George’s County council, and members of the Prince George’s County delegation today announced a structured plan to save Prince George’s County Hospital Center, a plan that would secure long-term fiscal health of the hospital, and give Prince George’s County residents the best quality health care they deserve.
“It was our goal to work in partnership with Prince George’s County to build a world-class healthcare institution for the residents of Prince George’s County and the surrounding communities,” said Governor O’Malley. “This agreement will allow a hospital authority to conduct an open and transparent process to secure the long-term fiscal health of the hospital system and give the residents of Prince George’s County a state of the art hospital system that they can depend on and deserve.”
“Prince George’s County deserves a world-class hospital,” Lt. Governor Brown said. “I applaud the County Executive and the County Council for finding the consensus that will allow us to save Prince George’s County Hospital.”
“All of us are here today as a symbol of what can be accomplished when we have a unity of purpose,” said County Executive Jack Johnson. “Government and politics are not always beautiful, but what is beautiful is that we all came together and worked to maintain and enhance a quality healthcare system in Prince George’s County.”
Under the plan, a seven member Board would be created to conduct an open, competitive bidding process for the purpose of selling the health care system to a new owner capable of providing high quality, community-oriented health and hospital services to Prince George’s County residents. Three of the members would be appointed by the Governor, three would be appointed by Prince George’s County government, and one member would be appointed by the Prince George’s County Senate delegation for a one year term.
The plan also would direct the State and County to reach agreement within 60 days on the aggregate amount of public funding they will commit jointly to the health care system if the bidding process results in the transfer of the system to a new owner. The agreement would also specify the percentage of the total financial commitment for which the State and County will each be responsible. The Board would issue a request for proposal to consider a new owner’s plan, and the bidding process would be completed in time to present the proposed agreement to the Governor, County Executive Johnson and the Prince George’s County Council, and the General Assembly prior to the 2009 legislative session.
The Hospital Center, which is currently operated by Dimensions Health Corporation, is a 268 bed hospital. Dimensions Health Care also operates Laurel Regional Hospital, a 96 bed facility, the Bowie Health Center, a free standing emergency care center, and the Gladys Spellman Nursing Center, a chronic hospital and nursing center home in Cheverly with 107 beds. Dimensions Health Care has been operating these facilities under contract since 1983. Combined, the Prince George’s Hospital Center and Laurel Regional Hospital had 21,977 admissions, 119,999 patient days, 83,702 emergency room visits and 23,369 outpatient visits in 2006. Prince George’s Hospital Center provided $34,791,000 in uncompensated care last year representing 14.5 percent of revenue, the highest of any hospital in the State. In 2007, as a result of the lingering problems, the amount of uncompensated care rose to 17 percent revenue.
[ View a copy of the Proposal ]
