Close to $51 Million In Health Grants Given

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty awarded almost $51 million in medical grants to three health-care entities yesterday as part of an effort to improve primary and emergency care for children and some of the city's poorest residents.

Washington Hospital Center received $10 million to increase the capacity of its emergency room. United Medical Center, formerly Greater Southeast Community Hospital, received $11 million to build a pediatric emergency department. And the D.C. Primary Care Association was given $29.7 million to support four primary care facilities being developed in Wards 2, 4 and 8.

A decade ago, the District was awarded $245 million as part of the historic class-action settlement with the tobacco industry. More than $100 million in grants have been allocated, including $10 million for anti-smoking efforts, $20 million for cancer prevention and $79 million to bolster United Medical Center.

"There is more work to do and a lot more grants to give," said Fenty (D), who was flanked by Health Department Director Pierre Vigilance and D.C. Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large).

James F. Caldas, president of Washington Hospital Center, said, "I am so thrilled to be able to apply these funds to our emergency room because this is going to allow us to completely redesign the front end of the hospital to improve patient flow into the ER and to be much more responsive on a day-to-day basis, as well as in the case of a mass causality situation."

Frank G. DeLisi III, chief executive of United Medical Center, said its grant will be used for a much-needed pediatric emergency department east of the Anacostia River that will be run in partnership with Children's National Medical Center.

"We have a community in need, and this hospital is a critical component in meeting that need," DeLisi said. "We are going to build a separate pediatric emergency department. Children's Hospital will provide the clinical support that we will have next door to our adult emergency department that sees about 36,000 neighbors currently. This is set to be a world-class emergency department."

Sharon Baskerville, chief executive of the DC Primary Care Association, said its $29.7 million will go to the continued funding of its plan to establish community health clinics across the city, she said.

"These are health centers that will provide electronic records, dental and mental health and full primary health care and prevention, with guaranteed access to people regardless of their ability to pay," she said. The association represents 14 primary care providers in 58 sites across the city.

Catania said that since the initial funds of the tobacco settlement were awarded, the city has moved from the "bottom of the list to the top" in terms of anti-smoking programs.

Vigilance, a doctor, said that equally important to anti-smoking programs is making a bigger investment in primary care.

"What keeps me up at night" is creating incentives for people to take advantage of the programs that are out there, Vigilance said. "The question is: How do we get people to utilize these systems in a way that benefits their lives prior to something catastrophic happening?"