On June 30, members of the George Washington University faculty from the School of Public Health and School of Medicine and Health Sciences collaborated to provide testimony before the Committee on Health and the Committee on Business and Economic Development Council of the District of Columbia B23-0777, “New Hospital at St. Elizabeths Act of 2020.” Dr. Bill Dietz, Redstone Global Center Chair at GWSPH, and Dr. Janet Phoenix, Assistant Research Professor at GWSPH, were joined by Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi, Director of the Rodham Institute and Professor of Medicine at SMHS, to provide recommendations on how the new hospital can promote health equity, eliminate structural and environmental barriers to health that are rooted in a legacy of racism and white supremacy, and focus on preventing and ameliorating diet-related chronic diseases that disproportionately impact communities of color in the District.
Dr. Dietz, Dr. Phoenix and Dr. El-Bayoumi shared their support for construction of a new hospital at the St. Elizabeth’s site, but noted that a new hospital alone will not address the deep health disparities in Wards 7 and 8. “What is needed is creation of a “health hub” that can both meet the acute health needs of residents in Wards 7 and 8 as well as address the underlying determinants of health that drive most health outcomes, such as access to healthy food and physical activity, economic opportunity, and safe housing,” the group stated while also sharing specific ways in which the proposed legislation and related proposed agreements with amendments could more directly address health equity and non-medical determinants of health.
Read the full testimony here.