S  E  N  A  T  E     R  E  S  O  L  U  T  I  O  N

URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO MAINTAIN THE PUBLIC INSTITUTION STATUS OF D.C. GENERAL HOSPITAL

WHEREAS, D.C. General Hospital, a 108-year-old health care facility located in our nation's capital, will stop operating as a full-service public hospital as a result of the Mayor of Washington, D.C.'s plan to privatize the hospital, eliminating a safety net for thousands of disadvantaged people who otherwise would not have access to basic health care services; and

WHEREAS, D.C. General Hospital is a major trauma center and plays an indispensable role in providing quality and affordable health care to the 100,000 under and uninsured residents of the city. Additionally, the hospital is only one of two health care facilities in the Washington, D.C. area with a Level III neo-natal unit, treating 1,000 premature and critically ill infants a year; and

WHEREAS, Concerns over the possible closing of the hospital and the move to change its public institution status have generated opposition from numerous observers throughout the country, including health care officials, representatives of medical organizations, community activists and policymakers who feel that D.C. General Hospital represents this country's commitment to providing health care services to the residents of its inner cities; and

WHEREAS, D.C. General Hospital should continue to operate as a fully-funded public hospital in order to provide lifesaving health care services to Washington, D.C.'s poor and uninsured; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby urges the Congress of the United States to maintain the public institution status of D.C. General Hospital so it can continue to operate as a fully funded public hospital, provide lifesaving health care services to Washington, D.C.'s poor and uninsured and represent this country's commitment to providing health care services to the residents of its inner cities; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, the presiding officers of the United States Senate and House of Representatives and the entire Rhode Island congressional delegation.

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