ANNAPOLIS — The state will put another $95.3 million into the company that runs Charlotte Hall Veterans Home, reworking how the operator is paid in an effort to reduce financial losses at the state veterans home in St. Mary’s County.
The Board of Public Works approved the change without discussion Oct. 29 as part of a 142-item agenda totaling $683.2 million, according to the board’s meeting summary. Gov. Wes Moore, Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Chief Deputy Treasurer John Martin sat for the meeting, the comptroller’s office said.
What changes at Charlotte Hall
The contract with PruittHealth Veterans Services Maryland covers management of health care and assisted living for residents of the St. Mary’s County home. The board’s action has two parts:
- $40 million added to the base contract and renewal option to change how the monthly fee is calculated, a pricing structure the summary says is meant to “incentivize reduction of financial losses.”
- $55.3 million to exercise the contract’s first renewal option, covering June 6, 2027, through June 5, 2028. That includes the $39.3 million renewal plus $16 million for the new pricing.
The modification runs from Nov. 19 through June 5, 2028. The summary does not say how large the home’s losses have been or how the new fee formula works. The item was submitted through the Department of General Services.
PruittHealth, based in Georgia, took over Charlotte Hall in 2023 after Moore canceled the previous operator’s contract following concerns about neglect and abuse, Maryland Matters reported. The board approved PruittHealth’s contract in May 2023. Later that year, the state’s veterans secretary said improving the home would take years.
Other Southern Maryland items
The Oct. 29 agenda also included these local items, all approved:
Item Where Amount Rural Legacy grant, Zekiah Rural Legacy Area (fiscal 2027 award) Charles $1,018,697 Rural Legacy grant, Anne Arundel South Rural Legacy Area (fiscal 2027 award) Anne Arundel $1,033,764 Ridge Volunteer Fire Department: drop ceiling renovation, garage door openers St. Mary’s $60,000 State Highway Administration salt storage improvements, District 5 Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, St. Mary’s $529,340 Settlement of an EEOC claim against the Calvert County Health Department and Maryland Department of Health Calvert $50,000
The Zekiah award is part of $21.1 million in fiscal 2027 Rural Legacy grants spread across 19 areas statewide, according to the summary. The Rural Legacy Program pays for conservation easements that keep farmland and forest from being developed. The salt structure contract went to St. Mary’s Roofing and Home Improvement LLC.
The same meeting approved a 27-acre Rural Legacy easement on Breton Bay in St. Mary’s County, which the Chronicle reported Oct. 30.
Statewide picture
Statewide, the board approved grant agreements for 51 projects worth $69.4 million, led by $40 million to the University of Maryland Medical System for a new hospital in Easton, the comptroller’s office said. Lierman recused herself from one unrelated item, a lease for Prieto Battery in Anne Arundel County, citing a relative’s interest in a business party to the deal.
The board next meets Wednesday, Nov. 18.
