Keep DC General open!
Community fights to save hospital
By Malcolm
Cummins
Washington, D.C.
Health care for the majority African American population in
the District of Columbia has been under assault for many years.
DC General Hospital, the only full-service public hospital in
the city, has borne the brunt of the attack for allegedly being
mismanaged and running over budget.
The crisis was starkly revealed in May this year, when 1999
figures for the infant mortality rate in the city were
released. In Anacostia, the poorest part of DC, 27.5 babies
died per 1,000 live births, a shocking figure. Infant mortality
is regarded as a key indicator of the health of a community.
The national average for the United States is 7.5.
The attacks came to a head on April 30, when the DC
Financial Control Board signed a contract to privatize health
care in the city.
The privatization would result in the closing of DC General,
which has deep ties to many in the Black community. DC General
is mandated to treat all who come through its doors, regardless
of their ability to pay. The actions of the control board have
outraged many in the city, and they are fighting back to save
the hospital.
Congress and President Bill Clinton established the control
board in 1995 to impose severe cutbacks in city services and
jobs. The City Council and then-Mayor Marion Barry had refused
to carry out this racist, reactionary program, so a neocolonial
entity was established that could force it through without any
accountability to the Black masses.
The control board has tried to privatize many city services,
including primary, secondary and tertiary education, prisons,
health care and even the sidewalks. It has been met with strong
opposition at every step, and has been only partially
successful.
The struggle to save the hospital has tremendous support in
the community. On May 19, supporters organized a car caravan.
Cars honked, drivers waved and people on the street shook their
fists. The message was that the struggle to save the hospital
continues.
Pastor Mildred King went on a hunger strike to call
attention to the crisis. A week into the fast, Pastor King
collapsed. The struggle to get her to a hospital became a
metaphor for the crisis in health care. The ambulance had to be
rerouted twice because of full emergency rooms, and finally had
to wait in line behind seven other ambulances.
The workers at DC General have been threatened with mass
layoffs. In an attempt to neutralize opposition, the mayor has
organized job fairs and promised retraining.
Dennis Cain of Government Employees Local 631 at the
hospital denounced the mayor's plan: "The job fairs are just a
coverup to smooth the transition. The mayor has no good
intentions towards the workers."
Vanessa Dixon represents interns and residents. They are
fundamental to patient care, and many are immigrants. "Many
interns will have to leave the country without completing their
internships if the hospital closes," Dixon charged.
The community is waging its own struggle to save DC General.
When the hospital was forced to divert ambulances away from the
emergency room because of staffing shortages, people started
arriving by car and on foot. One man with a severe stab wound
even managed to walk in.
Activists charge that at least 10 people have died since
April 30 because of the crisis. Supporters are being asked to
call the control board to protest this outrage. The number is
(202) 504-3400.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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