Greater Southeast on Life Support!

What’s the deal with Greater Southeast hospital? Sources told me Sunday night that a hundred more employees have been let go… including nurses and social workers. There were so few people to staff the emergency room that DC fire and EMS workers were ordered not to transport patients to the emergency room until further notice. It gets worse. My sources say the Administration at Greater Southeast has further reduced the number of patient beds by 15…meaning they can now only care for 120 people; but their patient numbers are well below that figure. A doctor source says Greater Southeast is unable to perform MRI’s, Cat scans and basic cardiac work. It’s a private hospital and the financial problems of the owners, Doctors, Inc of Arizona have been well documented in local print and in lawsuits. Word has it that a local businessman Carl Jones has been negotiating to buy the facility on Southern avenue but there is no reason to believe a sale is imminent. So once again it seems the City’s leaders are being pushed to decide whether to allow Greater Southeast to die, leaving poor residents in Ward Eight without a hospital and their biggest employer…. or the city can buy the hospital and allow a medical school like George Washington or Howard to run it. Stay tuned.