It appears D.C. Councilman Vincent Gray is close to finally landing his long-sought funding for a new hospital to replace United Medical Center.
When the D.C. Council passed a fiscal year 2018 budget in its first vote May 30— including a six-year capital spending plan — it allocated $300 million toward the proposed creation of an East End Medical Center, urgent care center and ambulatory facility on the St. Elizabeths East campus.
It was a bit of a coup for the former mayor after the council previously spurned his $300 million proposal for a new hospital on that site three years ago.
“I went to work with my colleagues and today, the council approved many of my priorities. We are moving this budget in the right direction,” Gray, D-Ward 7, said in a statement.
The $300 million included in the latest spending plan includes $136 million identified by Gray to be taken from $180 million Bowser proposed in her capital budget for improvements to District-owned UMC between fiscal years 2018 and 2023.