BLAIR LEE III,

Acting Governor

3239

General Assembly; and relating to the Montebello Center
and other State hospitals.

May 29, 1978
Honorable John Hanson Briscoe
Speaker of the House of Delegates
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21404

Dear Mr. Speaker:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the
Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed House Bill 1849.

This bill creates the Maryland State Health and
Hospital Corporation to be responsible for the management,
organization, and operation of the Montebello Hospital
Center, The management of the Hospital would be transferred
from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to this new
public benefit corporation.

This bill is the product of a four—year debate on
public health facilities which focused on the Montebello
Center when the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Hospitals withdrew its accreditation of the Center. The
Center has since regained and currently has accreditation.
However, due to continuing debate about the various
personnel and programmatic problems which are perceived to
exist at the Center, House Bill 1849 was introduced by the
House Committee on Appropriations. Based on the
recommendations of an internal study, the Committee decided
that a public benefit corporation was the most feasible
management structure for the governance and operation of the
Montebello Center.

House Bill 1849 is similar to a 1977 measure which was
vetoed by Governor Marvin Mandel on May 26, 1977. That
bill, Senate Bill 421, would have authorized the Secretary
of Health and Mental Hygiene to discontinue the direct
administration of a public rehabilitation and chronic
disease center by contracting for the operation of the
center, if he believed that greater efficiency would result
from such an arrangement.

The fiscal concerns expressed with regard to Senate
Bill 421 are equally relevant here. House Bill 1849 enables
the Corporation to set and collect fees and other charges
for provision of services. The Corporation would receive
and retain this revenue. This revenue currently is
deposited in the general funds of the State and partially
recovers for the State the management and support costs of
its agencies. While the Corporation will assume these
functions for the Montebello Center, the State will continue
to bear a portion of the costs through its reimbursement for
patients for whom the Corporation is not otherwise