AUGUST 29, 2024
FREE
BERLIN • NORTH WORCESTER COUNTY• OCEAN PINES
Atlantic General weighs its options Board to look at possibility of seeking partnership with another healthcare entity By Stewart Dobson Editor (Aug. 29, 2024) After 31 years of operating independently, Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin is looking into whether it should seek a partnership with another health care organization or continue to go it alone in an industry that’s seeing fewer small independents each year. In a response to a recent uptick in public speculation about the hospital’s future, the board of trustees on Tuesday announced that it had launched a “strategic partnership exploration process” that will consider whether working with another organization or remaining independent is the right course to take.
That independence manifested itself in 1993 when AGH opened its doors after a years-long battle against the state medical establishment to bring a primary care facility to the coastal area. In addition to having to produce millions of dollars in development and construction money, the citizens committee leading the charge for a local hospital encountered state regulators who were reluctant to issue the “certificate of need” that validated local assertions that the coastal communities were medically underserved. Then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer, however, interceded on AGH’s behalf and ordered state offices to cooperate with the local effort. The ceremonial groundbreaking took place in 1991, and the first year saw 13,316 emergency room visits. Last year, according to AGH contrac-
FILE PHOTO/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Atlantic General Hospital opened its doors in Berlin in May of 1993.
tor Emergency Service Associates, the emergency room saw some 40,000 patients. According to the AGH website, the
hospital and the AGH Health System have close to 950 full-time employees and an annual payroll of $74 million, See AGH Page 7
Lakernick becomes new OPA president Board of directors prepare to get down to business with officers for year ahead
TARA FISCHER/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
New officers on the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors are, from left, President Stuart Lakernick, Treasurer Monica Rakowski, Secretary John Latham and Vice President Rick Farr.
By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (Aug. 29, 2024) The Ocean Pines Board of Directors will see a shakeup at the top with Dr. Stuart Lakernick and Rick Farr swapping leadership roles. At a special meeting on Friday, Aug. 23, the board voted to move Lakernick, whose term expires next year, up a rung to president from vice president with recently reelected Farr moving down from president to vice president. John Latham and Monica Rakowski will remain as secretary and treasurer, respectively. The officer positions were deter-
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mined roughly two weeks after the 2024 board of directors election, in which Farr and Director Jeff Heavner defended their seats on the sevenperson governing body. The incumbents beat out challengers Amy Peck, who served a stint on the board from October 2021 to August 2022, Sherrie Clifford and Jerry Murphy. Farr was elected to the board in August 2021 and appointed president approximately a year ago. Lakernick’s term began in the summer of 2022. He was chosen as second-in-command following the 2023 election. According to Lakernick, the president acts as the face of the organization, “speaking for all seven.” “It is a corporate board,” the new president said. “We all have these seats, but nobody has more power See OPA Page 7
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