Washington, D.C. – Earlier today, Councilmember David Catania (At-Large) visited the medical and support staff at United Medical Center (UMC) in Ward 8. Catania told a packed room that despite some temporary financial difficulty, UMC will withstand the challenges posed by the current economy. The Chairman of the D.C. Council’s Health Committee said he and others are hard at work constructing a solution that will secure the hospital’s future.
“United Medical Center will not close so long as I chair the Committee on Health,” said Catania. “I will continue to fight so that residents located east of the Anacostia River have the same access to quality health care as those residing in other areas of the city.”
In December 2007, the District initiated a public-private partnership that led to the sale of the hospital by its former owner, Envision Hospital Corporation (“Envision”). As a result of the partnership, UMC has witnessed over $30 million in capital and equipment upgrades during the last two years. These upgrades have provided the hospital’s staff the ability to effectively diagnose and treat District patients in a facility that had badly deteriorated over the previous decade. The most vital investments in the last 24 months have included:
· the first-ever Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine located in Ward 8,
· a new Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory,
· new CT-Scanners,
· new Gamma Cameras,
· new dialysis machines,
· new respirators,
· new sterilization equipment,
· new laboratory equipment,
· new patient call and monitoring systems, and
· a new $11 million pediatric emergency room run by Children’s National Medical Center that is set to open in Spring 2010.
In addition, UMC has undergone critical plant upgrades including a new energy-efficient “curtain wall” (i.e., building exterior), a new roof, and new boilers and chillers among others. The result of all these investments has been a dramatic improvement in the quality of care offered at UMC, as well as an improved patient experience. Catania said that these enhancements will survive both the current economic climate and any changes to the District’s partnership with UMC or its ownership.
“Whenever difficulties arise, it is easy to lose perspective of the progress that has been made at UMC. In 2007, it would have been unimaginable to have a fully equipped and appropriately staffed hospital in just 24 months,” Catania told the hospital’s staff. “But that is what we have here today. The investments in equipment and capital and the improvements in patient care are not going away. They are right here and can be accounted for. I would invite anyone who believes that investing in the health care of residents east of the river was a mistake to come take a look for themselves.”
Catania reminded workers that the former Greater Southeast Community Hospital was heading for closure in the later part of 2007. After a decade of neglect and mismanagement by Envision, including a bankruptcy, the hospital was moving rapidly towards collapse. An inspection by the hospital’s accrediting organization, the Joint Commission, in October 2007 ultimately led to the revocation of its accreditation. At the same time, the hospital was deeply in debt and had cut services and staff to nearly nothing.
“This hospital would be closed today had we not acted in 2007,” said Catania. “This was a hospital that could not diagnose and treat a simple heart attack. In early 2007, the medical staff contacted the city to warn it of unsafe patient conditions, and the hospital was threatening to cease all OBGYN services. Meanwhile, the debts were piling higher and higher.”
Since the sale of Greater Southeast in November 20007, both of Envision’s remaining two hospitals and Envision itself have declared bankruptcy. Catania noted the saga of Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago in his discussion with UMC employees. Michael Reese was once one of Chicago’s largest and most respected hospitals. It was purchased by Envision in 1998, a year before it purchased Greater Southeast. At the time, both hospitals contained over 450 beds and were similar in both makeup and mission. Sadly, both followed a similar path of insufficient capital investment and reductions in beds and services. By 2007, Michael Reese and Greater Southeast were both in critical distress.
While United Medical Center continues to serve District residents today, Michael Reese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2008 and closed in June 2009. The once formidable campus of Michael Reese is currently being demolished. Catania believes an identical fate awaited UMC had the District not intervened in late 2007.
“Was the partnership we brokered to save the hospital in 2007 perfect? Of course not, but it was the best option available at the time,” explained Councilmember Catania.
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