CHEVERLY, MD – Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson and County Council Chair Sam Dean joined Governor Martin O’Malley, Lt. Governor Anthony Brown, Senate President Mike Miller and Speaker Michael Busch at Prince George’s Hospital Center this morning to announce the members of the Hospital Authority.

“I am very confident that these individuals will represent the best interests of the county and our citizens and they will work hard to ensure the viability and long term health of our hospital system,” Johnson said.  “They will make certain that the hospital is transferred to an entity that will build a world class health system in Prince George’s County.”

“Over the last several years, the County Council, working alongside the County Executive, has worked diligently to provide access to quality healthcare for the citizens of Prince George’s County,” Dean said.  “The assembly of talented and experienced individuals tapped to represent the county on the Hospital Authority, who will soon be working together with the newly-announced state representatives on the Hospital Authority, offers yet another encouraging step forward toward achieving a world-class hospital system.”

The members of the Authority are Ken Glover, who will serve as Chair; Donald Wilson, who will serve as Vice Chair; Tom Himler; Stan Brown; Andrea Leahy Fuchek; Karen Johnson Shaheed; and Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH.

“These appointments represent a major step toward maintaining and improving quality healthcare for the people of Prince George’s County,” said Governor O’Malley.  “I’m so proud these able members are willing to serve the people of Maryland in this capacity, and I look forward to working with the Board, legislators from the area, and our friends in Prince George’s County to install new and sustainable leadership of the Prince George’s Hospital System.”
The Hospital Authority is the result of legislation passed by the General Assembly in March that establishes the seven member board to conduct an open and transparent, competitive bidding process for the Prince George’s County Hospital System.

Prior to the start of the bidding process, the county and state have each named a negotiator to determine how much funding each will provide to a new entity as part of a deal to own and operate the system.  Iris Boswell, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Budget and Finance and Peggy Watson, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, have been appointed to represent the county and state in this matter respectively.  The legislation creating the Hospital Authority, requires that the funding and bidding process to be completed by the start of the 2009 legislative session.