(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Universal Health Services (UHS) announced a plan to expand the size of the new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health in Ward 8 on the St. Elizabeths East Campus. The expansion is made possible through a $17 million investment from Universal Health Services and will allow an additional fourth patient floor and larger diagnostic and treatment to be included in the new hospital. The new floor will be able to accommodate 48 additional beds in the future, as need arises – increasing the total number of beds from 136 to 184. The additional beds and diagnostic space will provide flexibility in responding to future health and regional emergencies. When it opens its doors to patients in early 2025, the new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health will be the first inpatient facility to open in the District in over 20 years. The state-of-the-art, full-service hospital also includes a trauma center, ambulatory pavilion for physician offices, clinics and community space, a 500-car garage, and a helipad for emergency transports.
“With Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health, we are delivering the hospital our community deserves,” said Mayor Bowser. “At every stage of planning this new hospital, we have been limitless in our vision for how we can build a healthier and more equitable DC. Now, we are giving that vision even more room to grow so that no matter what comes our way in the future, our state-of-the-art hospital in Ward 8 will be ready to support the needs of our community.”
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8C (adjacent to the new hospital) and Councilmember Vincent Gray, Chair of the Health Committee, are in support and the required regulatory commissions have approved of an expanded facility. Expanding the hospital will require moving the opening of the new hospital from December 2024 to early 2025. The additional floor is estimated to cost $11.5 million, paid for entirely by UHS. The expanded diagnostic and treatment area is estimated to cost $11 million and will be shared between UHS and the District, at $5.5 million each. The additions add 58,000 square feet to the hospital, for a total of 407,000 square feet.
“Our investment in Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health continues to demonstrate UHS’ commitment to providing a wide array of critical healthcare services East of the Anacostia River,” said Kimberly Russo, MBA, MS, Group Vice President of the Washington, DC Region for UHS and Chief Executive Officer of GW Hospital. “This $17 million UHS contribution is earmarked for the hospital’s expansion, strategically focused on addressing the needs of the community by providing additional space for expanded diagnostic and patient treatment areas.”
Services at the new 407,000 square foot Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health will include:
- Full service inpatient facility: The new hospital will open with 136 beds, with the ability to expand to 184 to meet the District’s future health needs.
- Newborn delivery with a neonatal intensive care unit: For five years in a row, the Children’s National neonatology program has been ranked #1 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Members of the team will operate the neonatal care unit at the new hospital. UHS expects over 2,500 new Washingtonians to be born at the new hospital in its first year of operation.
- Academic medicine and pediatric care: Physicians and graduate medical students from the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates and George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Children’s National Hospital and community physicians will provide care to patients.
- Women’s health services: Services to include gynecology, maternal, breast care, pelvic floor care, fibroid and menstrual disorders, gynecologic oncology, neonatal intensive care, and high risk pregnancy-maternal fetus medicine.
- Adult and pediatric emergency departments: Over 40,000 patients will be treated in the emergency departments. Children’s National will operate the pediatric emergency medicine department.
- A certified trauma center: The first trauma center east of the Anacostia River to ensure patients injured in severe accidents, blunt trauma and penetrating trauma can be treated in the community.
- Behavioral and mental health: 16 behavioral health beds to provide voluntary and involuntary behavioral health services.
- Operations: Operating rooms to support a full range of planned and emergency health procedures.
- Full range of specialty care: Physician offices for a range of specialties, including but not limited to, orthopedic, liver, heart, kidney, brain, bones and joint care.
- Outpatient services: Physical therapy, dialysis, and chemotherapy infusion. Thirty-six physician exam rooms.
- Solar power: Solar panels on the garage will provide energy assistance to over 200 households in the adjacent community.
- Staffing: 550 full time professionals when facility opens.
“I am very excited that we are building the new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health hospital with the shell space to grow into the nation’s premier community hospital with 184 beds,” said Councilmember Gray. “When I met with Dr. Elaine Batchlor, the CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, in Los Angeles, she advised us to build our new hospital with room to grow. I commend Universal Health Services for funding the $17 million for this increased 48-bed capacity and larger hospital, and Mayor Bowser on her continued leadership and commitment to this transformational hospital project that will create a generational shift for health equity in the city, as part of our vision to create a comprehensive system of healthcare on the District's East End.”
Named after Frederick Douglass’s historic residence in Anacostia, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health will be fully integrated with two new urgent care facilities, existing providers, and the George Washington University Hospital to establish a robust system of care for all District residents and in particular, communities east of the Anacostia River.
As previously announced by the Mayor, practitioners, physicians, and academic medicine at the new medical center will be provided by the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Children’s National Hospital pediatricians, nurses, and physician assistants will provide infant and pediatric care. Specifically, Children’s National staff will operate the pediatric emergency department and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
This generational health care project builds on Mayor Bowser’s continued investments in Ward 8. In just the last year, the Mayor opened the new 801 East Men’s Shelter and broke ground on the new Whitman-Walker Clinic and opened the Townhomes at St. Elizabeths East. Last year, the hospital design, completed by HOK and McKissack & McKissack, was approved by the United States Commission of Fine Arts and received its Certificate of Need from the State Health Planning and Development Agency.
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