The D.C. Council declared the deteriorating conditions at Greater Southeast Community Hospital an emergency Tuesday, giving its health committee the power to investigate allegations of fraud
and clearing the way for Mayor Adrian Fenty to go to court to wrest control of facility from its owners.
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Council Member David Catania, I-at large, sought the legislation, which passed on emergency basis and will be in effect for 90 days. The investigative rights given to the health committee gives it subpoena power.
Under the legislation, the mayor may seek to put the hospital into receivership if an emergency exists there that threatens the health, security or welfare of patients. The mayor also could act if the facility threatens to close within 30 days without a plan to transfer patients or is found to be in violation of city or federal standards of patient care.
A court-appointed receiver would beallowed to operate the hospital, hire and fire employees, and fix substandard conditions.
Catania, who chairs the health committee, has been an outspoken critic of the hospital’s owners, Arizona-based Envision Healthcare Corporation and Chairman Paul Tuft, accusing them of mismanaging federal and city money and allowing the hospital to fall into disrepair.
The facility is the only hospital east of the Anacostia River in D.C.
The hospital has had a troubled past with city lawmakers. Last year, then-Mayor Anthony Williams threatened to invoke the city’s power to seize the property if Envision did not sell it.
In June, Catania succeeded in persuading the Council to strip Envision of the property tax abatement it had received since 2002, valued at $1.2 million annually.
Most recently, Catania has accused Envision of attempting to run its hospital operations into the ground so it could cash in by selling the property off to developers. It is close to the $2 billion National Harbor development being constructed in Prince George’s County.
