Battle to keep Providence Hospital open continues

​“We need an ICU!” “We need an ICU!” “We need an ICU!” It was a bad news, sort of good news day yesterday as dozens of hospital workers and their allies gathered outside Providence Hospital. As Steve Frum of National Nurses United pointed out, the hospital will not close as planned on Friday. “The hospital will remain open in a very small footprint: an emergency department with ten in-patient beds. That’s because the community said ‘You can’t close this hospital.’ They were going to put a chain-link fence around here on Friday, and we stopped that. And we should be very proud.” While stressing that this is a very limited and short-term win, Frum and political, labor and community allies -- -- including 1199 AFSCME, DC Jobs with Justice, DC Councilman Kenyan McDuffie and DC DSA -- celebrated their David-and-Goliath victory. “Ascension is very angry that we stopped their plan; this multi-billion corporation did not want to go through what they had to go through in the last few months.”  Metro Washington Council Political Coordinator David Dzidzienyo echoed the commitment of everyone who turned out on the chilly morning, saying that “We’re going to continue to stand up, we’re not going to fold, and we’re going to hold these cowards accountable.” 
- report/photo by Chris Garlock 

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