District of Columbia General Hospital

Last updated

District of Columbia General Hospital
District of Columbia General Hospital
Geography
Location1900 Massachusetts Avenue SE, Washington, D.C., U.S., Washington, D.C., United States
Coordinates 38°53′7.70″N76°58′27.96″W / 38.8854722°N 76.9744333°W / 38.8854722; -76.9744333 (1806, DC General Hospital)
Organization
Type Public hospital
History
Opened1806
Closed2001
Links
Lists Hospitals in Washington, D.C.

The District of Columbia General Hospital was a hospital located in Washington, D.C. It was operational from 1806 to its controversial closing by mayor Anthony A. Williams in 2001, as the city was trying to cut costs while recovering from bankruptcy. At the time of its closure, it was the only public hospital located within the District.

Contents

History

The hospital was founded as the Washington Infirmary in 1806, using a $2,000 grant from Congress, and was located at 6th and M Street NW. [1]

In 1846, the hospital moved from its original location at Judiciary Square to 19th and Massachusetts Avenue, SE in 1846. At the turn of the century, efforts to open a new public hospital at 14th and Upshur were opposed by residents. [2] The final hospital site was first developed in the 1840s as a consolidated hospital, poorhouse and workhouse complex known as the Washington Asylum Hospital. [1] It was renamed Gallinger Municipal Hospital in 1922, after U.S. Senator Jacob Harold Gallinger. [1]

Washington City Paper described the hospital in 1994 as a "city poorhouse" that "provided de facto universal health care to the residents of the District... typically, only people with no alternative." [1]

Post-closure

Shortly after its closure, the facility was used as a homeless shelter, with a capacity of around 270 families. [3]

In 2014, 8-year old Relisha Rudd went missing after her family was staying in the facility. In the days before her disappearance she was seen with a janitor from the facility who killed his wife and a few days after, himself. [4] Rudd has not been found as of July 2021. [5]

In 2016, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a plan to replace the D.C. General shelter with six smaller facilities located around the city while transitioning families to subsidized housing. D.C. General was officially closed by Mayor Bowser on October 30, 2018. [6]

Reservation 13, the area encompassing the hospital site, was offered as part of Washington's bid to host Amazon HQ2. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crystal City, Virginia</span> Neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, United States

Crystal City is an urban neighborhood in the southeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, approximately 5 miles south of Downtown Washington, D.C. Due to its extensive integration of office buildings and residential high-rise buildings using underground corridors, travel between stores, offices, and residences, it is possible to travel much of the neighborhood without going above ground, making at least part of Crystal City an underground city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potomac Yard</span> Neighborhood in Northern Virginia

Potomac Yard is a neighborhood in Northern Virginia that straddles southeastern Arlington County and northeastern Alexandria, Virginia, located principally in the area between U.S. Route 1 and the Washington Metro Blue Line /Yellow Line tracks, or the George Washington Memorial Parkway, depending on the definition used. The area was home to what was once one of the busiest rail yards on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The "Potomac Yard" name is also used to refer to several developments in the area, especially the Potomac Yard Center power center and a Washington Metro station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Mendelson</span> American politician from Washington, D.C

Philip Heath Mendelson is an American politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, elected by the Council on June 13, 2012, following the resignation of Kwame R. Brown. He was elected to serve the remainder of Brown's term in a citywide special election on November 6, 2012, and re-elected to a full term in 2014 and 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Highlands (Washington, D.C.)</span> Residential neighborhood, southeast Washington, D.C., United States

Washington Highlands is a residential neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. It lies within Ward 8.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Flint Mall</span> Former shopping mall in Montgomery County, Maryland

White Flint Mall was a shopping mall, located along Rockville Pike, in Montgomery County, Maryland, that closed in early 2015 and demolished thereafter. Its former anchors were Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale's, Dave & Buster's, H&M, Loews Theatre and Borders Books and Music, the last four of which acted as junior anchors for the mall. Lord & Taylor, the mall's final anchor, operated until 2020, five years after the mall's initial closure and demolition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin School (Washington, D.C.)</span> United States historic place

The Franklin School is a building designed by Adolf Cluss in the German round-arch style, located on Franklin Square at 13th and K Street in Washington, D.C. It was constructed in 1869 and initially served as a flagship school building. It later took on various other educational roles, and became a homeless shelter in the 2000s. In 2020, it became the location of the Planet Word museum after its interior was largely gutted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muriel Bowser</span> Mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015

Muriel Elizabeth Bowser is an American politician who has served as the mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt, and the first woman to be reelected to that position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital</span> Hospital in Virginia, United States

Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital (LTTCH) is a 296-bed, state-licensed, long-term acute care hospital and nursing facility located in Norfolk, Virginia. LTTCH is a not-for-profit organization governed by a Board of Commissioners appointed by the Norfolk City Council with an incorporation name of "Hospital Authority of Norfolk."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brianne Nadeau</span> American politician (born 1980)

Brianne Nadeau is an American Democratic politician in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 1 since 2015. She defeated long-time incumbent Jim Graham in the Democratic Party primary and won the general election with 75% of the vote in 2014. She is the first woman to represent Ward 1 on the council and the first D.C. Councilmember to give birth while serving in office.

Eric Jonathan Sheptock is an American advocate for the homeless. Sheptock is currently homeless, and often referred to as a homeless, homeless advocate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Todd (politician)</span> American politician and lobbyist (born 1983)

Brandon Tristan Todd is a lobbyist for Washington Gas and a former American politician who represented Ward 4 on the Council of the District of Columbia. Todd previously worked in the Council office of Muriel Bowser and in various campaign positions during her successful campaign for Mayor of the District of Columbia. Todd won a special election in May 2015, succeeding Muriel Bowser, who was elected as mayor. After serving one full term on the council, Todd lost the 2020 Democratic primary to Janeese Lewis George.

Trayon White is an American Democratic politician, currently serving as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, representing Ward 8 of the District of Columbia. Before entering politics, he worked as a grassroots organizer and activist in the communities he would later represent on the Council. He won election to the Council in 2016, his second attempt for the seat held by Marion Barry until Marion's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Washington, D.C., mayoral election</span>

On November 6, 2018, Washington, D.C., held an election for its mayor. Incumbent Democrat Muriel Bowser won re-election, becoming the first Mayor to do so for Washington, D.C., since Anthony A. Williams won a second term in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon HQ2</span> Amazon.coms future second headquarters in North America

Amazon HQ2 is Amazon's corporate headquarters in National Landing in Crystal City, Virginia and an expansion of the company's headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Phase I, which has capacity for 14,000 employees, opened in June 2023. Construction on Phase II is delayed and there is no timeline for development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Relisha Rudd</span> American missing persons case

Relisha Tenau Rudd was an 8-year-old girl who went missing in Washington, D.C., in February 2014 and has not been found. Rudd had been living in the D.C. General Shelter with her mother, when she was befriended by janitor Kahlil Tatum, a former felon. Rudd stopped attending school, but it was 30 days before her absence was reported to police. Investigation revealed that the last sighting of her had been weeks prior when she was caught on camera with Tatum at an area hotel. Tatum's wife was found shot dead in a hotel in Prince George's County, Maryland in mid-March, and at the end of March, searchers found Tatum's body in a shed in the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, shot in an apparent suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Medical Center</span> Hospital in D.C., United States

United Medical Center, formerly Greater Southeast Community Hospital, is the only public hospital in Washington D.C. The 330-bed facility is located in the Washington Highlands neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Washington, D.C., mayoral election</span>

On November 8, 2022, Washington, D.C., held an election for its mayor. Incumbent Democrat Muriel Bowser was elected to a third term. The Republican nominee, Stacia Hall, received 2,368 votes in the primary, and independent candidate Rodney "Red" Grant garnered 4,700 signatures to gain ballot access. Both appeared on the general election ballot along with Libertarian Party candidate Dennis Sobin. D.C. Statehood Green Party nominee Corren Brown did not appear on the general election ballot.

Corbett Price is an American political donor and health care business and financial consultant. Since the 1980s, Price has formed businesses that purported to improve health care services and operations. His endeavors have billed millions of dollars in expenses to local governments while his firms have been removed from multiple contracts after financial instability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.</span>

The first cases relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C., were reported on March 7, 2020. The city has enacted a variety of public health measures in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, including limiting business activities, suspending non-essential work, and closing down schools.

In March of 2022, a man shot five homeless men in Washington, D.C., and New York City, wounding three and killing two. Shortly before midnight on March 13, 2022, the New York and District of Columbia police departments announced that they believed a single person was responsible for the attacks. The fatal shooting in New York City, caught on tape, shows a man inspecting a homeless man sleeping on a sidewalk cornering a building, then pointing a gun towards the man's upper body and opening fire.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Gifford, Bill (December 9, 1994). "The Curse of D.C. General". Washington City Paper . Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  2. Fenston, Jacob (November 5, 2014). "From Public Hospital To Homeless Shelter: The Long History Of D.C. General". WAMU .
  3. Austermuhle, Martin (July 10, 2018). "What's Happening With Mayor Bowser's Plan To Close The D.C. General Homeless Shelter?". WAMU. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  4. "Timeline: Disappearance of Relisha Rudd". The Washington Post . October 31, 2015. Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  5. Washington Post Editorial Board (July 28, 2018). "Opinion | When a shelter fails homeless people this badly, destroy it". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  6. Nirappil, Fenit (October 30, 2018). "D.C. General, the city's troubled megashelter for homeless families, finally closes". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  7. Neibauer, Michael (January 23, 2018). "No link between imminent D.C. shelter closure and Amazon's HQ2, city official says". Washington Business Journal . Retrieved August 17, 2018.