As COVID-19 seems to have lost a bit of steam, the concerns left in its wake are real and need to be addressed – particularly financial matters and the workforce shortage. The reality is that one out of every four nursing positions in the state is open. At the same time, 57% of hospitals in Maryland had negative margins to date in rate year 2022. If you take out the one-time federal pandemic funding, we are looking at significant losses at every hospital in the state.

This was top of mind on Friday as 18 members of the Executive Committee convened for a half-day retreat to direct the Association on these and other critical fieldwide initiatives.

The Committee was clear MHA needs to let the Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) know that without significant financial support we may have to close some services. Care in the state could be threatened.

Another robust health payment conversation focused on the Model Agreement, the savings target, and the latest conversations with the HSCRC and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Revenue for reform and retained savings were also debated.

Our governing body wants MHA to take an assertive, coordinated position to address maternal harm. They endorsed our moving forward with a collaborative on obstetric hemorrhage and adopting a leadership and accountability framework to push for improvement activities within and outside birthing hospitals.

A workforce public relations campaign was approved to recruit hospital workers and to diversify the types of candidates applying to nursing programs.

In addition, interim legislative efforts, the 2022 state elections, candidate education, and governance were also discussed.

The issues you face are complex and require multi-faceted approaches to policy, partnership, and practice. And MHA is here to help you move forward.

Bob Atlas
President & CEO