On December 18th, the Council of the District of Columbia passed legislation on the affirmative vote of 10 councilmembers, 2 “no” votes and 1 recusal to include a requirement that the Howard University College of Medicine’s need for an affiliation agreement be satisfied before a new hospital is constructed.
The D.C. Council considered Bill 22-0959 the East End Health Equity Act of 2018 which, among other things, exempts the construction and operation of a hospital on the St. Elizabeth’s campus from the certificate of need process. This was the second and final reading of that bill as required under the District’s Home Rule Charter. The bill received its first reading on December 4th. At that time, an amendment sponsored by Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White was added to the bill requiring the operator of the hospital to ensure that the East End Hospital would support the Howard University College of Medicine and the Howard University Practice Plan in the training of Howard medical students and residents by entering into the necessary agreements sufficient for the Howard University College of Medicine to meet its accreditation requirements and continue its academic mission.
The final bill adopted by the Council retained the provision making the execution of an academic affiliation agreement for the Howard University College of Medicine a condition precedent to the construction of the hospital.
The result is the East End Hospital cannot be built unless there is an academic affiliation agreement with East End Hospital or other health care facility or facilities that will allow the Howard University College of Medicine to meet it accreditation needs and academic mission. The responsibility for implementing the legislation by providing leadership of a process that produces a substantive and sustainable affiliation agreement for the Howard University College of Medicine and bringing the new hospital to fruition now rests with the mayor and Executive Branch officials as they negotiate definitive agreements with UHS for the East End Hospital. Howard University must, and will, actively engage in this process and remain vigilant to ensure that the legislative directive regarding academic affiliation is fully satisfied.
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