The failure of Prince George’s Hospital System, including its trauma center, will put a strain on busy trauma centers in the Baltimore area, causing bed shortages and overcrowding, hospital officials said Tuesday.

“Prince George’s Hospital … is the second-largest trauma center in the state,” said John Spearman, vice president at Shock Trauma in Baltimore. “If Prince George’s Hospital actually closes its trauma center, it will have a significant impact on both the Washington and Baltimore areas.”

Spearman said Shock Trauma already serves an estimated 7,500 patients annually and is projected to treat 8,800 by 2011.

The redirection of the estimated 3,000 trauma patients treated in Prince George’s annually would cause overcrowding and would stress the center’s bed capacity. Shock Trauma’s average 99 percent admission rate for patients who need critical care could also be in danger.

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“We always find a way to get patients in here who need to get in here from a scene,” Spearman said. “Maintaining a 99 percent on-demand admission rate will probably be impossible for us.”

The Prince George’s Hospital System includes the trauma and cardiac care centers in Cheverly, Laurel Regional Hospital, the Bowie Health Campus and the Gladys Spellman Specialty Hospital and Nursing Center.

Despite intense negotiations between Gov. Martin O’Malley, Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson and members of the County Council, lawmakers were unable to reach a deal late Monday to keep the Prince George’s Hospital System open.

“We worked up to the deadline last night and thought we were close to a deal around 10,” O’Malley said Tuesday afternoon during a brief news conference in the governor’s reception room. “The council was not willing to obligate future councils, and the Senate wasn’t willing to go further without the council.”

O’Malley had offered $20 million in the 2008 state budget to keep the hospital open if the county agreed to get out of the business of supporting the system currently operated by Dimensions Healthcare System.

The $20 million in state funding will now be used to support the closure of the facility.

O’Malley said keeping the hospital open now rests with the county.

stracy@baltimoreexaminer.com