Plans for a new Harford hospital remain in limbo after state health commissioners denied an appeal Tuesday by Upper Chesapeake Health System to proceed with its merger project.
"We are looking at the options," said Alan Acton, an Upper Chesapeake vice president. "We will evaluate how we will have to proceed."
The appeal was made in response to last month's decision by a Maryland Health Resources Planning Commission hearing officer to deny Upper Chesapeake's request for an exemption from a certificate of need for its proposal.
Upper Chesapeake is the parent company of the county's two hospitals, Fallston General and Harford Memorial in Havre de Grace. It has proposed a consolidation plan that would close Fallston General, reduce the number of beds at Harford Memorial and build a new multimillion-dollar hospital in Abingdon near Interstate 95.
The nonprofit, medical management group also recently bought 25 acres at Route 24 and West MacPhail Road as a potential site for a medical office building or hospital.
To proceed with its plan, Upper Chesapeake now will have to go through a full evidentiary hearing to justify the hospital reorganization and document the needs of current and projected area populations.
"We're convinced that citizens in that [Route 24] corridor need ready access to pediatric and obstetric services," Mr. Acton said.
According to the proposal, Harford Memorial would lose its pediatric and obstetric units to the new $60 million, 150-bed facility, and the number of licensed beds at Harford would be reduced from 275 to 100.
Before Tuesday's meeting, County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann wrote a letter to the state commissioners backing the plan.
"I have supported this proposal since its inception, as I believe it is right for our citizens and in their best interests," she said. "Failure to allow UCHS to proceed opens the door for out-of-county competitors to deter or delay us from developing this needy configuration."
Richard Coughlan, a staff member of the Health Resources Planning Commission, said approval was denied because the relocation would not be to the same sites as the current hospitals. "I'm confident we will be able to seek a certificate of need from the commissioners in the near future," he said.