New Bailout Proposed for Pr. George's Hospital System

"Governor O'Malley remains committed to finding a long-term and viable solution for the Prince George's community hospital center that provides the county with the highest level of care," Abbruzzese said.

Johnson was scheduled to brief lawmakers during the Prince George's delegation meeting yesterday in Annapolis. But at Johnson's request, Frush made reporters and lobbyists leave the room, saying the meeting had changed to a "Prince George's County Democratic Caucus" meeting. She said caucus meetings are not subject to open meeting laws.

"The fiction, if you will, is that we went into Democratic caucus, but we only have Democrats in Prince George's County, and we adjourned one meeting and started another meeting with the same cast of characters," Del. Doyle L. Niemann said.

Then, Johnson entered through a back door to brief the delegation. When the meeting reopened, Johnson told a Washington Post reporter that he would speak about the hospital plan but immediately left through a back door without answering questions.

Johnson's spokesman, John Erzen, issued a statement a few hours later, saying the county executive came to Annapolis to brief only the delegation. "Due to the complexity of the negotiations and the presence of a confidentiality agreement, he did not want to speak publicly about the status of the negotiations with the state," Erzen said.

Several lawmakers said the state's finances this year make it difficult for the General Assembly to appropriate such a large amount to the project. Niemann called Johnson's plan "expensive, very expensive."

"The question the governor is going to look at is: Who's paying what?" Niemann said.

The union for nurses and other hospital workers said it wants any deal reached in an "open and transparent process."

"We need to get the County Council and politics out of the hospital business," said Ebs Burnough, political director of local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union.

Unlike previous attempts to find a solution, Johnson and the County Council appear to support of the same proposal. Johnson is "taking the lead," but the council backs his plan, County Council Chairman Samuel H. Dean (D-Mitchellville) said.

A deal collapsed in the final days of the 2007 legislative session after the council was unwilling to sign on to it. That proposal would have cost $329 million over eight years, with $170.3 million from the county and $158.7 million from the state.

During the special session in November, the state reserved $50 million for the hospital system. But that money will be available only if local and state leaders formally agree to a long-term solution.