DC's Black Voices Public Enemy #1
Now that I have been labeled in the February 1, 2006 edition of DCWatch as, “the ugliest, nastiest and most offensive” writer this blog has ever published, I’m not going to waste space attempting to defend my position as it relates to that ‘lost soul’ I took to task in my last posting. But I will share a little bit of who I am and why I feel the way I do about this community.
After 10 years as a television news journalist, and facing what would have been my third move in five years, I decided I had had enough. I really wanted to establish some roots in the District—so I stayed. I worked in New Orleans before coming to DC in 1995. The two cities are very similar; both depend heavily on the tourism industry, both have problems with the public school system, both struggle with an almost daily increasing murder count, and they also have a black majority of colorful people. However, the glaring differences is that DC is a government town and the home to the most educated population of African Americans you’ll find anywhere in the world. I’m proud of the latter fact, but I’m also a little disappointed; because the few that have made it have consciously allowed themselves to be silenced. When I was in the news business, I was only allowed to say so much. Every word was scripted and subject to being censored and edited. That is the TV news business. But now that I’m self-employed, I can freely share some of my observations.
After you scrape away all the rhetoric, blind yourself to race and sexual orientation, and get down to the real issues, the people who call DC home are all basically the same. We want safe, clean and healthy communities. We want our children to get a quality education and have the options that that will offer. We want to work and own property. And we expect our government to do the right thing. Essentially, we all recognize the need for an equal distribution of this city’s resources; i.e., jobs, health care, vocational education and affordable housing.
This brings me to the debate on the National Capital Medical Center. First of all, the quality of healthcare dispensed from DC General Hospital, the nine community health centers and Public School Nurse Program of the Public Benefit Corporation was never an issue. The problems were in management, billing, collections and facilities. The place was hemorrhaging money, and instead of addressing those four areas, the Mayor and the Financial Control Board’s solution was to shut it down. This was the ill-fated process used to close DC General Hospital. First, administrators of the hospital were responsible for the submission of a detailed closure plan that addressed the needs of patients that were currently admitted, and patients that accessed that facility for services in the past. Second, the Department of Health (DOH) approved the plan and coordinated the process; which included, DOH advising the community by facilitated public hearings, providing resource information and ensuring provisions were made for the safekeeping, storage and accessibility of patient medical records. Sensing a potential political powder keg, District officials answered the expressed concerns regarding the desertion of a community by saying that systems would be put in place to ensure residents had access to the same level of care and services. DOH was charged with developing a health care access program for uninsured and uninsurable residents of the District with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and inmates of the DC Jail. The DC HealthCare Alliance was put in place to fill the void that was left once the hospital’s doors closed to inpatient care. Greater Southeast was awarded a 5-year contract to manage the Alliance program, and as such, the institution was to establish itself as a Level 1 trauma center. This never happened. Greater SE was also charged with establishing a Satellite Emergency Department (SED) at the DC General site. It was supposed to house one or two EMS vehicles so transportation would be readily available to patients accessing the SED in need of a higher-level of care. This was poorly implemented and eventually phased out.
The parent company of Greater SE was also plagued with financial difficulties. The parent company was using the Alliance money to jet set and run its other healthcare operations around the country. DOH sources say it never invested in the physical plant at Greater SE, DC General or the community clinics. In combination with these issues, and the facility holding area’s inability to pass the Fire Department’s inspection, the contract was cancelled and turned over to DOH. Now there it is, the District simply never delivered on its promise to the citizens in the eastern sector of our community.
I hope this answers some of your questions and makes the argument as it pertains to
need.
