To: Council Chair Phil Mendelson
Restore Funding for United Medical Center
On May 14th, the DC Council failed the residents of Wards 7 and 8 by voting to cut the funds of United Medical Center (UMC), the only hospital East of the River, by $25 million and to close the hospital in January of 2023 with no viable alternative available.
The DC Council acted on false information. Councilman Vincent Gray erroneously stated that UMC is only servicing between 70 and 80 patients to indicate that UMC is not reaching many patients. The truth is UMC is servicing between 400 to 500 patients a day and any cuts in funds for the hospital will have a detrimental impact on Ward 7 and 8
Staff at UMC are working short and any cuts in funds will impact their license. Less staff, nurses, and equipment will lead to dangerous outcomes. We cannot place the UMC nurses at risk.
Why is this important?
Wards 7 and 8 residents deserve better than this. United Medical Center is the only Hospital East of River and removing any funds from the Hospital will lead to fatal outcomes for residents in Wards 7 and 8. The DC Council must act immediately to restore the $40 million to UMC to avoid removing access to healthcare for Ward 7 and 8 residents.