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The hospitals’ closure would push the Adventist Healthcare hospitals in Montgomery County to a ‘‘near- or over-capacity situation” more consistently, said company president and CEO William G. Robertson. The two main hospitals in its system — Shady Grove Adventist in Rockville and Washington Adventist in Takoma Park — generally operate near capacity on a daily basis, he said.

‘‘All of us were hoping that things would get worked out” and that a deal to keep the Prince George’s hospitals open was imminent, Robertson said.

‘‘If divided, in a calm and planned way, the surrounding hospitals probably can absorb the volume of Prince George’s Hospital patients,” said Michael J. Chiaramonte, CEO of Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton. ‘‘But the ongoing issue would be the tertiary services, such as shock trauma and neonatal intensive care.”

‘‘Somehow, some way [the patients] have to be redirected to other facilities,” said Nancy Fiedler, a spokeswoman with the Maryland Hospital Association.

Fiedler said it is too early to gauge any financial impact on other hospitals, adding that talks are ongoing.

She acknowledged a great deal of pessimism in the state’s hospital industry, saying most officials are taking a ‘‘wait-and-see” approach.

The hospitals thought to be most affected by a closure would be those in Southern Maryland, and Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties, plus some in Washington, D.C. All are privately owned.

State, hospital officialsdiscuss action plans

Chiaramonte was one of a group of regional and state hospital administrators who discussed coordinated action plans with state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene officials in a conference call Wednesday.

The goal would be to keep surrounding hospitals in touch on a near-daily basis to constantly survey and determine capacities, Chiaramonte said.

‘‘The purpose, by specialty area, would be to continually assess what kind of capacity we would have available should Prince George’s Hospital close in a sudden manner,” he said.

Whatever happens, Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis will do whatever it can to provide care, said Lisa Hillman, the hospital’s senior vice president and chief development officer. ‘‘We have to take it on a day-by-day, unit-by-unit basis,” she said.

Anne Arundel Medical is the second largest birthing hospital in the state, behind Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Hillman said. There are days when it is hard to find available space at the 265-bed hospital, she said.

The hospital is planning a $300 million expansion to address the patient backup that already exists, without closings in Prince George’s, Hillman said.

Whether the hospital could handle patients coming from Prince George’s, Hillman responded as did others in the industry: ‘‘We will have to. That’s our mission, to care for sick people, so we will have to do that.”

Suburban Hospital in Bethesda is Montgomery County’s state-designated trauma center. Spokeswoman Ronna Borenstein said it’s too early to determine the number of patients that may spill over to Suburban should Prince George’s Hospital Center close.

‘‘It’s under analysis,” she said.

The statewide trauma system is already overtaxed, she said.

‘‘This development is going to upset the equilibrium of the trauma system,” she said. ‘‘There is certain to be an increased demand for our emergency and trauma services. Therefore we are actively participating on the working panels convened by the state to draft plans for the closure and relocation of patients.”

The impact should be small in Baltimore, said Thomas R. Mullen, CEO of Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.

‘‘The biggest impact would be felt by D.C. hospitals and hospitals in Southern Maryland,” Mullen said. ‘‘The impact here would be slight overall, but the major impact would be on those hospitals that are closer,” he said, such as Greater Southeast and Providence hospitals in Washington, D.C.

Besides Anne Arundel Medical, many Maryland hospitals already are expanding to cope with growing patient populations, including Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham, Fort Washington Hospital, Civista Medical Center in La Plata and Shady Grove Adventist.

District hospitals are already ‘highly utilized’

‘‘The Maryland and D.C. hospitals that would be affected by this are all highly utilized and do not have the capacity to absorb the activities and services delivered by Prince George’s,” said James F. Caldas, CEO of Washington Hospital Center.

The hospital is licensed for 926 beds, and operates at about 90 percent occupancy, Caldas said. Anything above 85 percent is considered above capacity, he said.

Washington Hospital Center, which delivers more than 4,000 babies a year, has already received calls from private practice physicians who deliver babies at Prince George’s Hospital Center.

‘‘They asked if we had the ability to absorb their practice, which we do not,” Caldas said.

The high volume of uninsured patients from Prince George’s Hospital Center seeking services would also affect other hospitals, he said. Dimensions officials blame their dire financial straits partly on the large number of uninsured patients treated there — about 60 percent.

Washington Hospital Center spent $22.7 million in charity care in fiscal 2006. Adventist Healthcare provides about 7 percent of its revenue to charity or people who do not pay for services, and Suburban provides about $2.6 million in charity care, according to hospital spokesmen.

‘‘So you have a dual impact ... insufficient capacity to provide responsive service to those patients ... and additional burden of uncompensated care that the surrounding hospitals would have to shoulder,” Caldas said.

‘‘This was an avoidable crisis,” said Robert A. Malson, CEO of the District of Columbia Hospital Association. ‘‘It’s going to spill over into the adjourning jurisdictions. It’s going to have the potential to overwhelm the entire region.”

Malson said it is too early to assess the financial strain any closings would put on the region, however.

‘‘We will do what we have to do to the best of our ability,” Malson said. ‘‘It’s not our responsibility to take all those people.”

‘Every hospital needsprofessional staff’

Closure of the Prince George’s hospitals would mean a sudden infusion of health care workers into a tight labor market. Although hospital administrators acknowledge the growing shortage of nurses and other professionals, none are licking their chops just yet over the possible pool of new job-seekers.

What is tragic in such a situation, when there’s talk of closure, is that employees may start leaving, said Hillman of Anne Arundel Medical Center.

‘‘Do we need new employees here? Of course we do. Every hospital needs professional staff,” Hillman said. But the hospital is not putting out any calls, she said.

‘‘It is still our hope that something can be reconciled,” Hillman said.

Union heads, civic leaders and hospital workers have said the closing of Prince George’s Hospital Center will have a far-reaching and crippling impact throughout the county.

‘‘A lot of employees are still in denial, and waiting for that big miracle,” said Jennifer Bell, director of medical affairs at the Cheverly hospital.

More than 2,300 hospital employees may be looking for new jobs over the next six months. The Service Employees International Union’s United Healthcare Workers East will try to help its 1,800 members find jobs at other regional hospitals, said Quincey Gamble, the union’s political director.

The hospital is required to notify employees within 60 days of a decision to close. G.T. Dunlop Ecker, CEO of Dimensions, said once workers are notified, the shutdown would probably be completed within three months.

Staff Writers Marcus Moore, Judson Berger, Douglas Tallman, Jason Flanagan and Dennis Carter contributed to this report.