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Officials with the Bowser administration and Universal Health Services announced Wednesday that plans to expand the new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health on the campus of St. Elizabeths East in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Ward 8.
The expansion is a result of a $17 million investment through UHS and will allow an additional fourth patient floor and larger diagnostic and treatment to be included in the new hospital. The new floor will be able to hold 48 new beds, which will increase the hospital’s total from 136 to 184.
The new hospital is scheduled to open in early 2025. The Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health, will be the first inpatient facility to open in the city in over 20 years.
The hospital will be full service and state-of-the-art with a trauma center, ambulatory pavilion for physician offices, clinics, community space, a 500-car garage and a helipad for emergency transports.
“With Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health, we are delivering the hospital our community deserves,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser. “At every stage of planning this new hospital, we have been limitless in our vision for how we can build a healthier and more equitable D.C. Now, we are giving that vision even more room to grow no matter what comes our way in the future, our state-of-the-art hospital in Ward 8 will be ready to support the needs of our community.”
In an interview with The Informer, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Wayne Turnage said the hospital will treat all ailments but will have a special focus on the medical problems of Wards 7 and 8 residents statistics reveal they tend to have such as diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity and dealing with a sedentary lifestyle.
Turnage said treating gunshot wounds, a specialty that the shuttered D.C. General Hospital possessed that gained its national attention, will be a focus but said it is a small part of the overall treatment portfolio offered to residents and patients.
Additionally, Turnage said the Cedar Hill hospital will treat anyone in the Washington metro area, regardless of whether they live in the District, Maryland or Virginia.