Mayor Anthony Williams is expected to announce as early as this week the commission of a task force of health care officials to study alternatives to the planned $400 million National Capital Medical Center on the former site of D.C. General, sources said Wednesday.
Williams told a U.S. House panel Thursday that he is “open to different ways” of enhancing health care options for residents on the east side of the city, as first reported by The Examiner last week.
On Wednesday, Williams said he is “stopping for the moment” to rethink the best options for the site, known as Reservation 13, but maintained that a new hospital still is a possibility.
Several sources close to the discussions said the plan to “reshift his thinking” started several weeks ago when Williams began informal discussions with several health officials. Williams would not elaborate on his plans Wednesday, saying he still needed to notify “key people.”
Howard University President Patrick Swygert said he is surprised by the mayor’s sudden shift.
“At no time during this entire two-year process have you expressed any doubts about either the need for, or the feasibility of the project,” Swygert wrote Friday in a letter to Williams. “You can certainly appreciate my consternation, therefore, at today’s article in The Examiner.
“If accurate, I am sure you will understand my deep desire to understand from you what has happened in the past 48 hours that would account for this dramatic shift.”
Current plant:
» District and Howard University to split construction costs 50/50
» District would pay for site preparation
» District would lease land to Howard at $1 a year for 99 years
