The current owner, the Public Benefits Corp., has been criticized by city officials for financial mismanagement. The new plan calls for Greater Southeast to turn D.C. General into a 24-hour inpatient facility. In addition, the mayor backs the D.C. Healthcare Alliance, a group that would be charged with improving primary care services.
Local officials say D.C.'s health standards are among the worst in the nation.
D.C. Chartered Health Plan also is a partner in the alliance and would provide access to 230 primary care and 750 specialty care physicians. You can't simply provide more money to prop up the status quo. The press conference comes on the heels of the D.C. Council saying it would block spending for Williams' plan. The council wants D.C. General to remain a full-service hospital so that the poor and uninsured, which the facility sees much of, will have sufficient care. It is something that has to be handled by experts.