Closure Looms Over Hospital System

But O'Malley warned that without an agreement from the county to provide more than half the funding, he was prepared to accept the "orderly shutdown" of the facilities.

Prince George's officials balked, saying O'Malley was requiring too much of the county.

The two sides worked all weekend and into yesterday to reduce the contribution needed from the county. In the early evening, aides to O'Malley unveiled a proposal under which the county would pay $170.3 million over eight years and the state would pay $158.7 million. If the county failed to make a payment, the amount would be deducted from state aid to the county.

Johnson told a Senate committee in the evening that he was "pleased generally" with the offer, but Exum said she had just received the bill and could not pledge the council's support.

Council member Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Laurel) said that the council's lawyers said the bill was poorly crafted and that members were concerned about how the county would be credited for transferring the land and buildings to an authority.

"It was clear to the council that we were putting at risk tens of millions of dollars of valuable assets," he said.

The negotiations were complicated by the number of players -- the governor, the House and Senate, the county executive and the County Council.

About noon, Sen. President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) declared that a deal to keep the hospital open was unlikely, pinning blame on a "recalcitrant" County Council, which he said was unwilling to guarantee county appropriations.

"Quite frankly, they've been very disrespectful to the governor," Miller said.

The system treats many of the region's poor and uninsured. More than 80 percent of the system's patients hail from Prince George's.