Unions fight plan to privatize Western Maryland Hospital Center services

Unions representing nurses and other health-care workers at Western Maryland Hospital Center are fighting what they say is Gov. Larry Hogan’s final chance to outsource care at the Hagerstown facility before he leaves office. The powerful three-member Board of Public Works, which includes the governor, is scheduled Wednesday to vote on expediting contracts that would outsource key functions of the public, long-term-care hospital, which cares for patients with complex conditions who often have been turned away from private facilities.