County Exec. Vetoes Emergency Legislation for Wicomico Nursing Home, Citing Overreach Concerns
WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. – Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano has vetoed emergency legislation passed by the County Council that outlined new rules for the operation and oversight of the Wicomico County Nursing Home.
The legislation, passed by the Wicomico County Council on Sept. 15, would have significantly altered the chain of oversight for the facility. The new legislation came about as county officials continue to address questions surrounding the nursing home’s oversight, organizational structure and long-term future.
As WMDT previously reported, the nursing home first became a point of contention in early August, when former and current employees of the Wicomico Nursing Home attended a Council meeting to voice concerns over the nursing home’s new director, Tina Foskey. Since then, other county and state officials, including Maryland Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-District 37A), have also voiced concerns about the current state of the once four-star facility.
What is the Emergency Legislation?
On Wednesday morning, Executive Giordano issued a statement on the veto, saying the bill creates “serious legal, financial, personnel, and operational concerns”, for both the Wicomico Nursing Home and the county’s taxpayers. She added that the County Council was acting outside of their legislative rights by interfering in the facility’s operations.
“[Emergency Legislative Bill No. 2026-11] creates competing chains of command, unnecessary legal uncertainty, and potentially significant new liability for County taxpayers,” Giordano said in part. “The County Council is the legislative branch of government. Its responsibility is to legislate, establish policy, approve appropriations, and exercise appropriate oversight, not place itself inside the operational chain of command of a regulated health care facility.”
The legislation would have allowed the Wicomico County Council to “hold and operate” the Wicomico Nursing Home through its Director; a position appointed by the County Executive with a required vote of approval from the Council. The bill also required the Nursing Home Director to provide quarterly reports to the Council, and permitted a vote of five or more councilmembers to terminate the individual employed as Director.
It also established the framework for the Nursing Home Commission, a board comprised of a County Councilmember and six professionals that would serve in an advisory capacity to the Nursing Home Director. Those professionals would include the Director of Administration for the nursing home, the Wicomico County Health Officer, a current or retired accountant, a current or retired medical doctor, a current or retired registered nurse, and a local attorney.
County Executive Speaks with WMDT
In an interview with WMDT, Executive Giordano said her biggest concern about the legislation was changing the structure of how the nursing home currently operates. She says that, according to the Wicomico County Charter, the Council does not have the ability to oversight any sort of personnel in the county, which is in direct opposition to Emergency Legislative Bill No. 2026-11.
“What’s really frustrating is that CoMar specifically says that a nursing home is operated by a nursing home administrator; not by seven council people, not by a County Executive,” Giordano told WMDT. “I truly believe that they are putting the County in a financial hardship. They are going to, you know, put us in a liable position and really, the legislation itself has caused a lot of legal tension.”
However, Giordano added that she supported the concept of the Nursing Home Commission or another type of advisory board, saying the collaborative aspect of managing the Wicomico Nursing Home is important. But ultimately, she said the bill as passed had too many blurred lines between legislative oversight and executive administration. For now, Giordano tells WMDT that she’s confident in the current operations at the Wicomico Nursing Home, and that she hopes to readdress the issue with the new members of the Wicomico County Council following November’s election.
“I really hope that the Council will pause this,” Giordano concluded. “And then when the new Council comes in, this is something that they can pick back up and we can really formulate a good bill that can be great, you know, for the county and for the nursing home.”
