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| Statehood Greens Urge Council to Probe 'Hidden' D.C. General Hospital Funds. |
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D.C. Statehood Green Party Friday, February 18, 2005 Contact: STATEHOOD GREENS URGE COUNCIL TO PROBE 'HIDDEN' D.C. GENERAL HOSPITAL FUNDS WASHINGTON, D.C. -- D.C. Statehood Green Party leaders called on D.C. City Council to investigate allegations that city officials hid $200 million in Medicaid funds that were owed to D.C. General Hospital in 2001. In the same year, Mayor Anthony Williams, cooperating with the D.C. Financial Control Board, dismantled D.C. General and privatized its services, leading to a public health care meltdown in the District. "If Mayor Williams and Chief Finanical Officer Natwar Gandhi misled Council and the public about D.C. General's solvency in order to destroy D.C.s only full-service public hospital, this is cause for investigation and possible criminal prosecution," said Rick Tingling-Clemmons, Ward 7 representative on the D.C. Statehood Green Party's steering committee. "Such fraud is not only illegal in itself, but in this case led to suffering and death because of the difficulty in getting indigent patients to a hospital quickly for treatment. This is a matter of possible theft, violation of federal law, and endangerment of the welfare of D.C. residents. We hope Council shares our outrage, andwe demand that Council members to launch an immediate investigation." According to allegations, $200 million in Medicaid funds that should have gone to D.C. General Hospital were diverted to the city's general account in order to balance the budget. Mayor Williams, promoting privatization of D.C. General, claimed that the hospital was a financial drain on the city. The D.C. Statehood Green Party strongly opposed the privatization plan in 2001, arguing that the purpose of a public hospital was not to turn a profit but to serve low-income and working residents, that the funds existed to maintain the hospital, and that D.C. General was in fact providing excellent and indispensible services. Statehood Greens noted in 2001 that corporations with close ties to Mayor Williams, especially Doctors Community Health Care and D.C. Chartered Health Plan, stood to make millions from D.C. General's destruction and the privatization of its services. Arturo Griffiths, Michele Tingling-Clemmons, Jenefer Ellingston, Renie Bowser, and other Statehood Green activists helped lead rallies and meetings in protest of the Mayor's actions. "The news today that Mayor Williams has worked a $400 million deal with Howard University to build a 'National Capitol Medical Center' on the D.C. General site shows how the hospital's destruction has turned into a boondoggle for contractors," said T.E. Smith, Ward 8 representative on the Statehood Green Party's steering committee. "We desperately need a new hospital to replace D.C. General. But D.C. residents will now have to foot the bill for a facility on the site of the one destroyed by Mayor Williams' dishonesty, cronyism, and cooperation with the antidemocratic Control Board. "Furthermore, the new facility will not be a publicly owned hospital. Although Howard University plays a unique role in this community, it is responsible to its shareholders, not the public," added Mr. Smith. MORE INFORMATION The D.C. Statehood Green Party "D.C. Has A 'Deal' To Build Hospital" From 2001: D.C. Statehood Green Party press releases
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