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Erin Cox
Local reporter covering the state policy of Maryland
Maryland's governor and senior lawmakers promised on Friday that the University of Maryland's medical system and financial arrangements for some board members who would oversee it would be thoroughly examined.
Governor Larry Hogan (right) has called the trade agreements, released this week for the first time by the Baltimore Sun and sometimes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, "inconvenient" and "appalling".
Hogan said the nine board members with financial contracts with the hospital system must end their conflicts of interest or resign. He is committed to taking "all necessary measures".
"There can not even be the appearance of an irregularity," Hogan said in a statement.
The General Assembly is considering a bill to ban trade agreements between the hospital and the 30-member board of directors.
Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh (D) is a member of the Board of Directors. Her financial disclosure form reported a profit of $ 100,000 for one year through the sale of 20,000 copies of her series of self-published "Healthy Holly" children's books to the hospital system.
The top three leaders of the Maryland government – Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Governor Larry Hogan and Speaker of the House of Representatives Michael E. Busch – plan to meet with leaders of the hospital system. (Bill O 'Leary / The Washington Post)
The medical system, known as UMMS, receives millions of dollars in public funding. It operates 13 hospitals, including the state trauma department in Baltimore, and maintains links with the state's schools of medicine and dentistry.
The governor and presidents of the General Assembly appoint most members of the board of directors of the private institution.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Calvert) described the scandal as "egoism" and "huge disaster".
He, Hogan and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), are planning a joint meeting with the hospital management. Miller said he planned to meet with the chairman of the board on Monday.
"We will solve this problem," he said. "They will find a way to fix the problem."
People gather in Annapolis for a minimum wage of $ 15 on March 13th. (Matt McClain / The Washington Post)
Before commercial agreements were made public by the Sun, Senator Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City) introduced a bill this year banning such arrangements. Carter stated that she had filed the bill after receiving a complaint from someone who was unable to obtain a contract from the medical system and had felt that it was because "it was 39, was in a way a closed circle ".
"That's at least the very definition of the appearance of irregularity," Carter said. "You sit on the board, you volunteer to develop good policies and make good decisions for patients and for the community, and you actually make millions of dollars just because you're here and you have the power to: guide the business your way. "
The bill was heard by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.
A spokesman for UMMS did not answer questions from the Washington Post on Friday. Hospital officials have defended the contracts as legal.
Some board members reported fairly lucrative contracts. Former state senator, Francis X. Kelly, owner of an insurance company, reported $ 1.6 million in revenue from contracts with the hospital system in 2017, according to Sun.
Also in Annapolis on Friday, lawmakers endorsed a bill granting unemployment benefits to federal public servants forced to work without pay at upcoming government closures. Hogan has not taken a stand on the bill.
The House of Delegates also proposed a measure to ban the widely used pesticide, chlorpyrifos. Under the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to ban its use for agriculture. The Trump administration reversed the course.
The House refused to pass Senate amendments to a bill that would raise the state minimum wage to $ 15 an hour. Earlier this week, the Senate amended the bill to give businesses with fewer than 15 employees more time to pay higher wages.
Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George's), chair of the House's Economic Affairs Committee, said the measure, which is a democratic priority of this session, "will pass. We just have to compromise on a few things. "
In other legislative measures, the Senate unanimously approved the legalization of cannabis-infused food products for patients treated with marijuana for medical purposes and the creation of a private police force by Johns Hopkins University. He also endorsed a law that provides for a "harsher sentence" when a person kills a woman knowing that she is pregnant. The bill was passed by 46 votes to one, Senator Mary L. Washington (D-Baltimore City), the only dissident.
The Senate voted by 28 votes to 19 to pass a bill banning minors from using tanning salons. Several legislators have described the measure as overrun.
Senators also proposed a bill banning retailers from selling tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to anyone under the age of 21. The bill was amended to exclude young soldiers.
Read more:
After a struggle of several decades, Prince George's inaugurates a hospital complex
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