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| DCPCA Testimony - Alley Closing |
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Statement of Sharon A. Baskerville
Chief Executive Officer, DC Primary Care Association Public Hearing on Bill 18-601, "Closing of a Portion of an Unimproved Public Alley in Square 5795, S.O. 08-7766 Act of 2010"
Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 2 PM
John A. Wilson Building, Room 500 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Good afternoon Chairman Vincent Gray and members of the Committee of the Whole. My name is Sharon Baskerville, and I am the chief executive officer of the DC Primary Care Association (DCPCA). I am here this afternoon to testify in support of Bill 18-601, the "Closing of a Portion of an Unimproved Public Alley in Square 5795, S.O. 08-7766 Act of 2010" in Ward 8. We greatly appreciate the efforts by Councilmember Marion Barry for introducing Bill 18-601 and by Chairman Gray for holding this hearing. A. Project Overview DCPCA proposes the closure of an 828 square foot portion of the unimproved public alley adjacent to Galen Street SE, between Lots 800 to the west and Lots 1, 23, and 24 to the east. This partial closing of a small section of the public alley in Square 5795 will allow DCPCA to further its mission by enabling the construction of a new community health center in this area of Anacostia at the corner of 16th and Galen Streets SE. B. DCPCA's Mission DCPCA is a nonprofit health reform organization founded in 1996 by health care professionals who were concerned that the shortage of primary health care in the District was contributing to increasingly poor health outcomes for DC's most vulnerable residents. It is DCPCA's mission to ensure that DC residents receive high quality primary health care – regardless of their ability to pay. DCPCA represents 14 primary care providers at 58 sites across the District. DCPCA's Medical Homes DC initiative is a public-private partnership to rebuild DC's primary care system for an estimated 210,000 low-income residents who live in areas of the District that lack sufficient medical services. Our Medical Homes DC program aims to enlarge, enhance, and replace the current network of community health centers and ensure more equitable geographic distribution of these facilities – specifically targeting wards 7 and 8 for the support of existing health care facilities and the development of new facilities to respond to the urgent unmet need for primary care and other health care services. C. Community Health Center The goal of this specific project is to replace the existing Anacostia Health Center at 1328 W Street SE. The existing site is a Quonset hut that was meant to be a temporary site for the health center but, years later, it still stands. Anyone who has seen the site knows that, despite the best efforts of the operator – Unity Health Care (Unity) – it is difficult to maximize patient and employee dignity in such a location. Our plans are to build a state-of-the-art, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified, health center that will become a long-term asset to the neighborhood. The proposed health center is just two-tenths of a mile down the street from the site under discussion, in direct proximity to the neighborhoods and members of the community it is intended to serve. The proposed 28,000 square foot medical facility will provide for increased health care services – including dental and mental health, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics/family practice, as well as several specialty practices. This new site will allow Unity to eventually serve 50,000 visits annually, more than double the visits of the current health center. The creation of a new health center in Anacostia has already created, and will create, more jobs in the community. Committed to hiring locally, DCPCA selected Forrester Construction as our general contractor. Forrester has a consistent track record in meeting and exceeding DC government requirements on major projects in areas of First Source hiring and Certified Business Enterprise participation. In addition, this Anacostia Health Center could utilize other local businesses, such as property management and security firms to monitor the facility. A new health center could also help to eliminate existing nuisance conditions caused by illegal dumping and loitering on the public space. D. Project Partners/Stakeholders Project partners and stakeholders include: * Unity Health Care, Inc.: the operator and eventual owner of the proposed Anacostia Health Center. * The DC Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): The project will receive significant capital support from the DC and federal government. Since 2005, DCPCA has received a commitment of over $50 million in capital funds from DC government for our Medical Homes DC program. Of this $50 million, DCPCA is expecting to commit up to $15 million to this project. Furthermore, Unity recently received a grant from HHS, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to fund the remaining project costs. Other partners include JAIR LYNCH Development Partners, our development consultant; Little Architectural Consulting; Forrester Construction; and zoning and real estate attorneys, Greenstein DeLorme & Luchs and Saul Ewing. I would also like to highlight the invaluable assistance we receive from our pro bono corporate attorneys at Crowell & Moring. E. Community Outreach DCPCA made presentations before the Advisory Neighborhood Commission on May 18, June 15, July 20, and August 4, 2009. During these meetings, the ANC indicated that safety and ease of access were high priorities for them, which we incorporated into our design. At the August 4th ANC meeting, the commissioners voted to support this project and our alley closing application. On September 11, 2009, the chairman of ANC 8A, Anthony Muhammad, sent a letter to the District indicating the ANC's support for the alley closing. F. Conclusion DCPCA urges that the Committee of the Whole approve Bill 18-601 for the closure of an 828 square foot portion of the unimproved public alley in Square 5795 and allow us to further DCPCA's mission to facilitate the development and sustainability of an effective integrated health care system in the District of Columbia that guarantees access to primary health care and eliminates disparities in health outcomes. This concludes my testimony in support of Bill 18-601. I am available for any questions you may have at this time. |
Yes, I believe everyone deserves to get the right care, at the right time, and in the right place -- regardless of their ability to pay.
I want to support DCPCA's efforts to bring primary care to DC's low-income and uninsured residents.
