In a major announcement related to medical care, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday that the city’s new hospital is expected to open in just a couple of months.
Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health, near the Congress Heights Metro Station in Southeast, will open its doors April 15.
The $434 million full-service hospital will include 136-beds, maternal health and delivery, a trauma center, clinics, a 500-car parking garage and a helipad for emergency transports.
“The new hospital, and the system of care it is part of, are all part of one shared goal: improving health outcomes for D.C. residents,” Bowser said.
It will be operated and maintained by Universal Health Services, the health care company that runs George Washington University Hospital.
Kimberly Russo, vice president of Universal Health Services, said it would “ensure health care equity” for residents who live in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River and have traditionally needed to travel elsewhere for comprehensive medical care.
When the new hospital opens, the city-owned United Medical Center will officially shut down.
“All of the employees will be notified at some point because that hospital is closing and the new hospital is opening,” Bowser said.
City leaders also made another announcement on Thursday related to the “Entertainment and Sports Arena,” which is just down the street from the new hospital in that same Southeast neighborhood.
They said, due to a new naming rights deal with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, that the facility would now be called “CareFirst Arena.”
The arena is home to the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
“Transformational change can only happen when businesses commit to working hand-in-hand with the communities they serve,” said Brian Pieninck, the CEO of CareFirst. “We’re here to do more than put our name on a building. We’re here to invest in what makes this community strong and vibrant.”
As part of the deal, Pieninck said CareFirst would make a $2 million commitment to funding local programming in the community around the arena, focusing specifically on workforce development, maternal health and food insecurity.
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