The state of Maryland is waiting to hear whether Prince George’s officials will accept recent concessions it has made on a plan to save the county’s cash-strapped hospital system, a spokeswoman for the lieutenant governor told The Examiner on Tuesday night.
SamanthaKappalman made the comments after Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson, County Council Chair Camille Exum, and other state officials met for the second consecutive day in Annapolis.
Kappalman said the deal has the same basic structure as the one the County Council rejected last week, but had few details about the concessions Tuesday night.
“Now the state is awaiting the decision of the county executive and the County Council,” she said.
“They are making progress toward a solution,” Johnson spokesman John Erzen said before Tuesday’s meeting.
The board of Dimensions Healthcare, which runs the county-owned hospital system, is scheduled to meet this evening and likely vote on the system’s future.
Dimensions CEO Dunlop Ecker has said he will recommend the board proceed with closure at the meeting.
On April 9, before the conclusion of the General Assembly session, Johnson and the state reached an agreement to save the hospital system, but the council refused to approve the eight-year, $329-million deal. Before Tuesday’s council meeting, several dozen sign-waving hospital employees and area residents demonstrated outside the County Administration Building in opposition to a potential closure.
“I have two children and the idea that the closest area facility is going to close is unacceptable,” Bowie resident Kwashie Strong said.
Said Kettering Civic Federation President Phil Lee: “The community is extremely upset with the council.” According to Lee, the council should accept a deal.
If the system closed, Harry Swann, a painter in the maintenance department at Laurel Regional Hospital, said it would be hard for him and a lot of his colleagues to find jobs.
“I’m worried about that,” he said.
Some urged the council to save the system during the public comment portion of its meeting. Perry A. Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church in North Brentwood, told the council, “We know you will do the right thing” and keep the system open.
“We are committed to ensuring access to health care for citizens,” Council Chair Camille Exum said. “However, we believe Prince George’s can’t be the insurer of last resort.”
