|
Joins Mayor to Mark 1-Year Since Sale of Hospital, Says Future of Hospital is Bright
Washington, D.C. – Today, Councilmember David Catania (At-Large) joined Mayor Adrian Fenty to mark the 1-year anniversary of the sale of United Medical Center (UMC) to Specialty Hospitals of America (SHA). UMC, formerly called Greater Southeast Community Hospital, has been the subject of an intense “turn around” effort for the past 12 months. After years of neglect and mismanagement, the hospital was sold to SHA with the assistance of $79 million in grants and loans from the District on November 7, 2007.
“This hospital nearly closed last year. I believe that it was weeks away from shutting down by the time of its sale,” said Catania. “This is why it is so gratifying to see how far it has come back in the last year. The future of UMC is very bright.”
In January 2007, Greater Southeast announced plans to close its OBGYN unit, the latest of multiple service eliminations. Just days later, the hospital’s Medical Executive Committee wrote city leaders to warn of an “unsafe” environment for patients. In May 2007, the hospital’s emergency room nurses walked off the job for lack of payment, and the owner’s announced plans to lay off another 60 workers. Shortly afterwards, the Committee on Health, chaired by Catania, held the first of five consecutive hearings on the condition of Greater Southeast. A thorough review by city health inspectors showed that the hospital was suffering from a complete lack of investment in its capital and human resource needs resulting in poor patient care. The dismal state of the hospital prompted Catania to push for its sale to new owners.
“Fortunately, SHA was willing to step forward and take on the monumental challenge of turning this hospital into a center of excellence,” Catania explained.
After purchasing the hospital, UMC retained Quorum Health Resources to provide management and staffing expertise. Quorum, the largest hospital management firm in the world, helped re-staff the hospital’s senior and mid-level management ranks. For the past year, the hospital’s leadership team has been hard at work improving the quality of care offered by the only hospital in the District located east of the Anacostia River. Services and staffing have been expanded and improved. They have also undertaken a massive overhaul of the hospital’s capital and equipment needs.
For a more complete explanation of UMC’s progress, click here. For more information on events leading up to the sale of the hospital, click here.
### |
