D.C. MayorAnthony Williams finally said on the record what he has hinted for weeks: Speaking to a congressional committee and The Examiner’s Michael Neibauer, the mayor declared that declining D.C. Council support and the “fragility” of another hospital have forced him to consider alternatives to the 250-bed, $400 million National Capital Medical Center as jointly proposed by Howard University and his administration.
Last month, Williams was dancing on a hot wire, asserting support during press briefings for the project but reminding everyone that a new hospital on the site of D.C. General in Southeast wasn’t his idea in the first place. At-large Council Member David Catania also took the mayor to visit Inova Fairfax Hospital; the two were scouting options.
Interestingly, Catania originally instigated the NCMC effort. After the financial control board, with Williams’ endorsement, decided in 2001 to close the antiquated, medically inadequate, money-sucking D.C. General Hospital, Catania urged the council to approve legislation mandating that the mayor negotiate with Howard University; that bill passed unanimously, leading to one of the most blatant sole-source deals in the city’s history.
But once details of the plan between the Williams administration and Howard became public, the council began its own dance: Members raised concerns about the cost, the number of poor residents who would be served, and the future of Greater Southeast Community Hospital. Rather than declaring that it no longer believed NCMC a viable or critical element in the city’s health delivery system, the council took cover behind the independent review required for such projects, known as a Certificate of Need. Howard calls that requirement a deal-breaker.
Williams’ decision to announce his reservations suggests he has set aside his desire to be embraced by residents in a section of the city who have never understood him or his brand of politics. It may be years before they realize that they prospered more during his tenure than that of any other mayor.
Truth told, Williams and the control board were on track five years ago. They created the highly innovative D.C. Health Care Alliance. Operated like an HMO for the uninsured and underinsured, the program has received national accolades. It focuses the government and residents on prevention, rather than emergency rooms as primary care physicians. A significant feature of the original plan included a free-standing emergency room with Level 1 Trauma services operated by Greater Southeast on the D.C. General campus. That element was abandoned when Greater Southeast went into bankruptcy.
The flaw wasn’t the plan but the partnership.
Williams’ recent decision to ditch the popularity meter and the council’s readiness to take the political hit, albeit under cover of a Certificate of Need, indicate that the health care needs of District residents — not the ambitions of Howard University — have returned to center stage. And that’s a good thing.
Jonetta Rose Barras is the political analyst for WAMU radio’s “D.C. Politics Hour with Kojo and Jonetta.” She can be reached at [email protected].
