Nurses, community leaders call on D.C. leaders to save Providence

At an emergency D.C. City Council hearing this morning (see Calendar for details), nurses, doctors, community leaders, and faith activists will call oncity leaders to demand that Providence Hospital remain open as a fully functioning hospital with acute-care services. “Providence is definitely the hospital for the poor in D.C.,” said Elissa Curry, a registered nurse – and member of National Nurses United -- at Providence with 23 years of experience. “We serve the poor, the indigent and the elderly, where will these people go?” Many of the Providence staff have worked there for decades, Curry add. “We have the skills to go elsewhere, but we choose to stay here, because we treat the patients like family, and we know we are giving them the best care, no matter their ability to pay. It breaks our hearts that Ascension (which owns Providence; it’s the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system) is looking to abandon this mission.” The layoffs caused by the hospital's closing "will add workers to the numbers of underserved," added Vaughn Newman. a Medical Surgical Tech and member of National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees/AFSCME. "Our City Council and Mayor must give support to keep this hospital open," Newman declared. “Fit it, don’t close it”.

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