Gambling with lives

State and county leaders rescued the hospital from the brink of closure several times. Unfortunately, this year may be different.

An emergency bill proposed that the county pay $227.7 million and the state pay $176.7 million over eight years, and create a new hospital authority including state appointments. Johnson successfully negotiated a compromise in the price tag, but council members collapsed the deal, citing hesitancy to agree to a plan that outlasted their terms.

In addition, there was a major sticking point in the emergency bill that allowed the new authority to increase county taxes to raise revenue for the hospital. However, O’Malley expressed flexibility April 5, stating he would accept changing the legislation to allow the county executive to decide how to raise the money.

The gamble didn’t pay off. Negotiations ended in the final hours Monday of the General Assembly session, leaving the hospital more than $100 million in debt.

Dimensions has repeatedly announced that without an immediate infusion of money, it will have to cease operation. If the threats come to fruition, not only will the thousands of uninsured who flock to the hospital suffer, but so, too, will the thousands of hospital employees and insured patients who utilize the facility.

The hospital will stand as a brick-and-mortar reminder of county leaders’ inability to provide short- and long-term solutions to ongoing problems plaguing Prince George’s. The negotiation debacle comes at a time when the county is recording high numbers of homicides, keeping pace with the record set in 2005 — another problem for which leadership has failed to announce an in-depth, wide-reaching solution.

In county leaders’ defense, the hospital was already well into a downward spiral when they took office. They aren’t alone in the blame. State lawmakers also waited until the last minute, literally, to make the hospital a priority. It was ridiculous to see discussions this session revolving around expanding health insurance for low-income residents statewide when officials were unable to find a solution for just one hospital.

In the end, however, Prince George’s leaders bear responsibility for what happens in the county. Don’t let the hospital center continue to be a handed-down problem. Future councils will surely prefer being bound to a solution rather than dealing with an ongoing crisis.