Tonight! Forum on the National Capital Medical Center

Tuesday, October 18, at 7 p.m.
Hine Jr. High School auditorium (8th and Pennsylvania Ave. SE)

Colbert I. King, deputy editor of THE WASHINGTON POST editorial page, will moderate a panel discussion of the proposal. Panelists will include DC City Administrator Robert Bobb, DC Primary Care Association Executive Director Sharon A. Baskerville and DC Hospital Association President Bob Malson. Also invited to attend is Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert.

The joint Williams Administration-Howard University NCMC proposal is for construction of a new $400+ million hospital complex at the DC GeneralHospital site in Ward 6. All patient rooms would be single rooms in a 'state of the art', digital hospital. Construction costs would be shared equally by Howard and DC Government (which would also pay for infrastructure costs). However, the NCMC would be a private hospital entirely owned by Howard University. The panel discussion will be followed by a question and answer session.
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This proposal has been discussed extensively in themail@dcwatch.com, in the Washingotn Post, including this op-ed by Dr. Eric Rosenthal, "D.C. Won't Be Any Healthier," and in this blog.

The proposal is particularly troubling because an overall assessment of health care needs in the city and how to address these needs, particularly in community-based settings, really hasn't been done. This appears really to be a proposal for "hospital" care, rather than one that assesses and addresses community health care needs comprehensively and holistically.

Because of expressed opposition, the Williams Administration proposes vacating the public hearing process of granting a "certificate of need" from the DC Department of Health State Health Planning and Development Administration and going straight to City Council.

When you cut back on transparency, generally it's because the view through the glass isn't pretty...