Speaking of hospitals and regional equity

In the DC region, the Prince George's County Hospital system in Maryland and Greater Southeast Hospital in DC have serious problems, while other systems such as Inova in the Northern Virginia suburbs thrive.

Atlanta's Grady Hospital is on the ropes, closing departments. This article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Grady to close dialysis center," has links to a number of other articles and editorials on the topic.

Solving these kinds of issues is often more a problem of structure and jurisdiction, one that crosses the at times jurisdictional boundaries that don't comport to the organization's reality in terms of funding, administration, and the ability to address the fundamental problems.

For example, Grady Hospital is the Atlanta region's primary trauma care center, but the State of Georgia doesn't have a system of trauma care, and adequate funding for those facilities that provide such services.

Because DC is physically connected to Prince George's and Montgomery Counties in Maryland, it is reasonable to plan and fund the provision of hospital and wellness care on a regional basis. But given the different jurisdictions, DC vs. the State of Maryland, that's not how things work. Cross-state organizations like the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are very rare.

Of course, WMATA is one such interstate compact and we know how well that works... well, it works pretty well, but there are problems in how the voting and appointment process works in practice. The suburban jurisdictions, especially further out, have different needs than DC in particular, and to some extent, differ from Arlington County's priorities as well...

The Washington Regional Equity Network is growing out of the old Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities, which merged into the Coalition for Smarter Growth earlier in the year.

Their first General Body Meeting will be held next week at the George Mason University Arlington Campus.