Mayor Dashes Hope for a New Howard University Hospital

Washington, D.C., mayor Anthony A. Williams is backing off from his firm support for the National Capitol Medical Center, an institution which was to be operated by Howard University in the low-income, southeastern section of the city. Mayor Williams appears to have had a change of heart about the city’s $212 million share of the $400 million cost of the hospital.

In a sharply worded e-mail to the students, faculty, and staff, Howard University president H. Patrick Swygert said that Williams had never once voiced his concerns during the three-year planning process for the hospital. The two had met as late as last month to discuss the construction of the facility.

Without the mayor’s support, the future of the 250-bed hospital project is in doubt.

Copyright © 2006. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.