The District Chronicles

Issue date: 11/16/08 Section: Neighborhood

In honor of the one-year-anniversary of the sale of Greater Southeast Community Hospital to Specialty Hospital of Washington, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced the progress the hospital has made seen since last November. "We are making tremendous progress to improve the quality of health care that is available to the residents of the District of Columbia, particularly those living east of the Anacostia River," said Fenty.  "Our accomplishments at the one-year mark are just the beginning of what we hope to achieve at United Medical Center."

Last year, the District entered into a public-private partnership with Specialty, investing $79 million in public financing toward the purchase of the facility, renamed United Medical Center, from Envision Hospital Corp. and to allow for new investments in medical equipment and building improvements. Prior to the sale, Greater Southeast was slated for imminent closure due to years of neglect and mismanagement.

To ensure an effective turnaround for UMC, Specialty hired Quorum Health Resources, one of the country's top healthcare management consulting firms, to provide management advice to the hospital's ownership team and help re-staff the hospital's senior and middle management.  "The progress made by the United Medical Center over the past year has been nothing short of phenomenal," said At-large Councilmember David Catania. "I am very optimistic about the future of UMC, as well as for the residents who are served by it." United Medical Center's First Year Achievements include:

1. Capital & Equipment Upgrades
2. Replacement of building's exterior façade
3. Construction of Magnetic Resonance Imaging unit
4. Renovation of key medical rooms: Nuclear Medicine, Basic Radiology, Cat Scan and Interventional Angiography
5. Replacement of patient beds and furniture, as well as, emergency department stretchers
6. Installation of electronic medicine cabinets in all patient care sections
7. New boiler and emergency generator
8. Installation of new telephone system, including hardware and Software
9. Finalized elevator modernization contract to repair and replace ten elevators over 15 months

Prior to the sale of the hospital, financial losses equaled approximately $1.2 million per month. Today, those losses have been virtually eliminated.  By the end of 2008, the hospital will have doubled its numbers of employees, creating 800 jobs though the Long Term Acute Care program, Skilled Nursing Center and overall expansion of UMC's hospital and emergency room.

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