ANNAPOLIS – Maryland General Assembly Delegate A. Wade Kach, D-Baltimore County, said he will undergo hip replacement surgery after falling and breaking his hip Thursday.
From his bed at the Anne Arundel Medical Center, Kach said he tripped on a loose brick in front of the James Senate Office Building while walking from that building to his office.
The 53-year-old delegate said he planned to return to the General Assembly before the end of the session.
Kach could return home as early as Monday and may be fit to return to work in two to three weeks, Kach’s secretary Shelly Snyder said nurses told her Friday afternoon.
But Delegate Joseph J. Minnick, D-Baltimore County, chairman of the Baltimore County delegation, said Kach would probably be excused from the rest of the session.
“The doctor said it’s the worst possible break” Kach could have suffered, said Minnick.
Kach fell shortly before 1 p.m., then had to wait until 8:10 p.m. to receive general anesthesia to fix his hip because he just had lunch before his accident, said Delegate Martha S. Klima, R-Baltimore County.
That afternoon Klima said she met Kach at the hospital. At 12:30 a.m. Friday Kach was still in the operating room, she said. She called the hospital again at 2:30 a.m. and was told Kach was “resting and doing good.”
By 7 a.m. Friday, Kach regained his color and felt no pain, said Klima, who visited her fellow delegate at the hospital before going to her morning meetings. Kach will stay at the hospital for four to five days and will undergo physical therapy at home, she said.
“Depending on his progression he should be back in two to three weeks,” said Snyder.
If Kach is excused from the General Assembly, House Republicans will lose one of the just 35 votes they hold in the 141-member Chamber.
But Klima said she will make sure Kach still has a say in the 2001 Assembly.
“He’s my friend and I want him back,” said Klima.
She said Kach would work from home on his laptop computer and that they would work together on legislation.
“He loves his job here, so I’m sure he’ll be back as soon as he can,” said Klima.
Kach, who was first elected to the House of Delegates in 1974, is the senior Republican in the House of Delegates.
House Minority Leader Robert H. Kittleman, R-Howard, said losing Kach won’t affect the result of legislation voted in the House. But where Republicans will hurt the most is in Kach’s leadership on the Economic Matters Committee, he said, especially when committees will start voting on bills.
“He’s the one who keeps Republicans together,” said Kittleman. “I hope he’ll be back before the going gets tough.”
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