Michael J. Chiaramonte

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Prince George’s County and state officials are gearing up for health care changes this year, including a major initiative to improve primary health care for predominantly black populations.

Health care was a recurring theme during the Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable’s annual board meeting Monday, with briefings from Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (D) and other state officials.

Michael J. Chiaramonte, CEO of Southern Maryland Hospital, hosted the group at his family’s Colony South Hotel in Clinton.

Chiaramonte, whose hospital broke its record with 2,020 babies delivered in 2011, recently participated in a 10-member committee studying health disparity among Maryland’s populations. The group is part of a larger Maryland Health Quality and Cost Council and was created by Brown in late June.

“Health care outcomes measures across the board are not as good for African Americans as they are for whites,” Chiaramonte said, referring to higher rates of infant deaths, hypertension, diabetes, stroke and heart attacks, among others.

Blacks contract HIV at 12 times the rate of whites, and their infant mortality rates are three times higher, said Mark Goldberg, Brown’s spokesman, referring to the type of disparities the group is trying to address. Blacks also are twice as likely as whites to lack medical insurance, he said. These factors have contributed to Maryland ranking 35th in geographical health disparities in national studies.

Although part of the problem might lie in biased perceptions, another is the unwillingness of some black patients to seek primary care, Chiaramonte said.

“Rather than tackle the why, we’re looking at how to do it better,” he said. “We’re looking for ways to close the gap.”

His committee is preparing to roll out a new set of initiatives, with a plan for health care “empowerment zones” as its centerpiece. These areas would function similarly to special tax incentive zones and use tax incentives, property grants and possibly help with medical school loans to encourage primary health care providers to locate in undeserved areas, he said.

Brown said this is the first time the state has undertaken a disparity effort of this level.

The lieutenant governor’s group plans to release its report Tuesday, Goldberg said.

With the continued focus on partnering the Prince George’s County Hospital system with the University of Maryland Medical System, business people and officials say they want to see a more integrated approach to health care. The university medical system signed a memorandum of understanding with Dimensions Health, which runs the county hospital system, in July.

Brown said the state especially is concentrating on establishing the new system so that it does not “cannibalize” existing health care providers around it and so they operate in unison.

Roundtable board member Wayne Curry, president of NAI Michael Cos. in Lanham and former Prince George’s County executive, cautioned against recent pushes to fund the hospital system through allowing more gambling in Prince George’s County.

He called efforts to bundle hospital funding with gambling, such as slots, “hostage-taking.”

Brown said setting up a hospital system is a top priority for the state, with determining the funding source a more secondary consideration.

He urged county officials and residents to work together to advocate for a solution.

Chiaramonte said he has no opinion about gambling in the county, but he agrees with Curry that it should be a separate issue from funding the hospital. Should slots or other expanded gambling be allowed in Prince George’s, then the county should be open to using it as a funding source, he said.

Del. Melony G. Griffith (D-Dist. 25) of Upper Marlboro, chairwoman of the Prince George’s County delegation and vice president of Greater Baden Medical Services, said the county needs to present a united front on this effort.

“The key to reducing health costs has to do with getting the patient the right level of care at the right time,” Chiaramonte said.

Instead of having patients automatically go to the top level of emergency care whenever there’s a health problem, the system needs a more efficient mind-set for rationing care, he said.

Sen. James C. Rosapepe (D-Dist. 21) of College Park added that more also needs to be done to improve digital medical records, which would improve communications within the health care system.

lrobbins@gazette.net