St. Agnes HealthCare, Suburban and other Maryland hospitals lost out yesterday as a Senate committee killed legislation that would have cleared the way for them to begin offering open-heart surgery.

With an 8-3 vote, the Senate Finance Committee rejected a bill sponsored by Montgomery County Sen. Brian E. Frosh that was designed to clear regulatory hurdles blocking a handful of hospitals, including Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, from doing heart surgery.

Legislators said similar legislation pending in the House of Delegates, aimed at helping St. Agnes in Southwest Baltimore win the right to do heart surgery, was also effectively dead following the Finance Committee vote.

"There wasn't much sentiment for the bill in the committee," said Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell, chairman of the panel, who voted against the measure.

Bromwell, a Baltimore County Democrat, said the bill would have undermined the state regulatory process and led to a glut of hospitals offering expensive services.

"It's costly for the consumer," Bromwell said.

St. Agnes and other hospitals have failed in recent years to win approval from state regulators to begin offering heart surgery. Regulators consider the demand for heart surgery and the high cost of offering such services.

Eight of Maryland's 50 hospitals have state permission to offer open-heart surgery.

Frustrated by the regulatory rejections, several hospitals backed legislation this year to essentially undo the regulatory process covering open-heart surgery. Many hired high-profile Statehouse lobbyists to work for the bills.

Several hospitals that are now allowed to do the surgery -- such as St. Joseph Medical Center and Washington Hospital Center -- hired their own lobbyists to defeat the measures.

Sen. George W. Della Jr. backed St. Agnes, which is in his district, and voted for Frosh's bill.

"The hospital has been unsuccessful through the regulatory process," Della said. "From my perspective, that regulatory process is broken."

The Baltimore Democrat said it wasn't fair to force St. Agnes, which has a highly regarded cardiology department, to have to send its patients to other hospitals for heart surgery.

"It just doesn't make sense to me that they don't allow their patients to remain in the institution at one of the state's finest heart clinics," said Della.

Pub Date: 3/25/99