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Neighbors,
In nearly nine hours of testimony at Wednesday's Committee on
Health roundtable on Providence Hospital, I heard concerns about
the planned closure from residents, doctors, nurses, employees, neighbors,
policy experts, and executives of other D.C. hospitals. It is clear
Providence Hospital plays a critical role in our community and in
providing equitable healthcare access to residents throughout the
District, in particular Ward 5 and the East End of the city.
We also learned that the D.C. Department of Health (DoH) and State
Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA) lacked clarity to
take action when District hospitals seek to close. Following the
roundtable, I introduced the “Clarification of Hospital Closure
Procedure Emergency Amendment Act of 2018.” This legislation would
provide clarity to the DoH and SHPDA of their role when a hospital
in the District seeks to close. The legislation was co-introduced
by Councilmember Vincent C. Gray, Chair of the Council’s Committee
on Health, and is expected to be voted on by the full Council at
the Legislative Meeting on Tuesday, October 16.
I want to thank the many members of the Ward 5 community who
attended the hearing and have expressed their views on this issue,
as well as Councilmember Gray for holding yesterday’s roundtable
and co-introducing this legislation with me. I have renewed my call
for the leadership of Ascension Health, the world’s largest
Catholic health system, to testify before the Council.
In Service,
Kenyan
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