Study To Determine Whether New, Full-Service Hospital Needed To Replace D.C. General

The owner of Greater Southeast Community Hospital in Washington, D.C., which treats indigent city residents requiring hospitalization or trauma care, has hired two consulting firms to consider the possibility of opening a new, full-service hospital on the site of former safety-net facility D.C. General Hospital, the Washington Business Journal reports. The consultants will conduct a "feasibility study" of the site, according to Paul Tuft, chair and CEO of Doctors Community, the owner of Southeast Hospital. The study, expected to conclude this week, examines whether the property could accomodate a small hospital with 120 to 200 beds, Ana Raley, president of Southeast Hospital, said (Silva, Washington Business Journal, 5/24). In April 2001, the city transferred management of its indigent health system from the bankrupt Public Benefit Corp. to the D.C. HealthCare Alliance and began to phase out inpatient and trauma services at D.C. General Hospital. Under the new indigent care system, D.C. HealthCare Alliance manages a network of more than 20 clinics that contract with private physicians, and Greater Southeast provides inpatient and trauma services. Residents may enroll in the system if they have a permanent city address and annual incomes less than 200% of the poverty level, or $17,720 for an individual. As of December 2001, 17,000 individuals had enrolled in the system, short of an expected 25,000 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/18).

Does D.C. Need Another Hospital?
The undertaking of a feasibility study is a "pretty compelling statement" that an additional hospital facility with an emergency room is needed at the D.C. General site, City Council member David Catania (R), who met with the consultants in April, said. Council member Sandy Allen (D), who also met with the consultants, added that she believes D.C. General "never should have been closed." Catania noted that since D.C. General closed, there has been a "dramatic increase" in emergency room visits at other area hospitals, according to statistics from the city Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services. He added that the emergency services provided by Greater Southeast are a "joke." But Raley said that the feasibility study is not an indication that the D.C. Healthcare Alliance is inadequate, adding that the study "has nothing to do with the alliance." Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of Providence Hospital in Northeast D.C., said that the increase in emergency room patients at her facility is "not ... enough evidence for a new hospital" (Washington Business Journal, 5/24).