Kenneth B. Morris, a descendant of Douglass, said the hospital \u201cwill provide much needed comfort and care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
D.C. Councilmember Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) has worked on securing a modern health care facility for residents east of the river for several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBuilding a new hospital and creating a robust healthcare system on the East End of the city has been a goal of mine since my tenure as mayor,\u201d said Gray, who served as mayor from 2011-2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am grateful that my colleagues supported this vision and saw the vital importance of increasing access to quality healthcare for Ward 7 and District residents. The creation of a comprehensive health care system anchored by the new state-of-the-art Cedar Regional Medical Center is one of the best ways to ensure justice, equity and accessibility in healthcare services to residents of Wards 7 and 8,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gray thanked his successor, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, as well as Deputy Mayors Wayne Turnage and John Falcicchio and former City Administrator Rashad Young, his council colleagues and staffers \u201cfor getting us to this point today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI look forward to continuing to work together to bring health equity to District residents, especially to those in Ward 7,\u201d Gray said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 365,000 square feet facility will include: a newborn delivery unit with a neonatal intensive care unit; academic medicine and pediatric care units with physicians and medical students from the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates and the George Washington medical and health sciences schools; Children\u2019s Hospital and local practitioners; women\u2019s health services; adult and children emergency departments; a trauma (the first located east of the river); 16 behavioral health beds for voluntary and involuntary services; operating rooms; doctor\u2019s offices for specialists; outpatient services; solar power which reaches into the neighborhood; and a staff of 550 full-time professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Community reaction to new hospital<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8) expressed his optimism about Cedar Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt smells like a new ward today,\u201d White said. \u201cThousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands will benefit from this hospital. Ward 8 residents, particularly seniors, have had to travel across the city during a pandemic in order to receive treatment. I am excited we will have a real, state-of-the-art trauma center here in the ward. We are in the business of saving lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ambrose Lane, Jr., a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the at-large council position in the June 21 primary, celebrated the groundbreaking but said more work on community engagement needs to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a good win for the community,\u201d said Lane, a Ward 7 resident. \u201cHowever, we still have to resolve workforce issues and find ways to deal with chronic diseases. We cannot stop \u2013 we must continue to fight for quality health care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8C advisory neighborhood commission chairman Salim Adofo said the new hospital will bring more than just patients and employees to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis will be an economic boost to Ward 8,\u201d Adofo said. \u201cPeople who work at the hospital will go out into the ward to spend their money at the shops and restaurants we have here. I also see the building benefitting the community aesthetically with a great edifice. The new hospital will make Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue more vibrant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n @JamesWrightJr10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nearly 300 people, along with District leaders, attended the highly-anticipated groundbreaking of the Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health on the campus of St. Elizabeths East in Ward 8 on Feb. 17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2340,"featured_media":1162594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_primary_brand":0,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","nota_seo_page_title":"","nota_seo_page_description":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"small","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30817],"tags":[57589,57586,57591,57588,57587,57590,57592,47914,34145,56383,11092,21639],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"nota":[],"coauthors":[53513],"class_list":["post-1162593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-19th-century-abolitionist","tag-cedar-hill","tag-cedar-regional-medical-center","tag-childrens-national-hospital-2","tag-gw-health","tag-kenneth-morris","tag-quality-health-care","tag-salim-adofo","tag-trayon-white","tag-universal-health-services","tag-vincent-gray","tag-ward-8","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.washingtoninformer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/VINCE-GRAY.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1\")
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