Washington, D.C.-based George Washington University suspended negotiations over managing a new hospital in Washington in a letter to officials Dec. 5, The Washington Post reports.
The letter to city officials obtained by The Washington Post argues that conditions approved by the D.C. Council during a meeting earlier this week "have made [GWU's] continued participation potentially impossible and placed this project in jeopardy."
District Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a Dec. 4 statement that while negotiations with GWU have been placed on hold, it does not diminish officials' resolve to build a new hospital, which will likely serve the city's underserved populations.
The D.C. Council voted Dec. 4 to require the new hospital to honor union contracts and employ healthcare professionals from the city's existing public hospital. The new hospital would also enter into an agreement with Washington, D.C.-based Howard University to allow medical residents to train at the hospital. Howard officials previously voiced their discontent for GWU's management arrangement for the new hospital.
One D.C. Council member who is largely responsible for leading the effort to build the new hospital said Dec. 4 that each of the stipulations would act as a "poison pill" for the potential hospital, the report states.
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