MESSAGES OF SUPPORT FOR D.C. GENERAL HOSPITAL --
PARTIAL SIGNERS OF STATEMENT
"It's Time to Draw the Line: Saving D.C. General Hospital
is a Matter of International Importance"
John Dow, former Congressman, Grandview, NY
Robert J. Cornell, former Congressman, prof of History, St. Norbert
College, Depere, WI
Clair Callan, former Congressman, Fairbury Ne
State Sen. Luther Jordan, Wilmington, NC
State Sen. Joe Neal, Las Vegas, NV
State Sen. Don Eret (former), Dorchester, Ne
State Sen. Maggie W. Glover, Florence, SC
State Sen. Charles Steele, Tuscaloosa, Al.
State Sen. Alma Wheeler-Smith, Lansing, MI
State Sen. Eric Coleman, Hartford, CT
State Rep. Harold James, Special Assistant to the President, NBCSL
Chairman, Region II (New York and Pennsylvania), NBCSL Philadelphia, PA
State Rep., Arthur Morrell, New Orleans, La
State Rep. Ernest Newton III, Bridgeport, Ct
State Rep. Artina Tinsley Hardman, Detroit, MI
State Rep. LaMar Lemmons, Detroit, MI
State Rep. Ken Daniels, Detroit, MI
State Rep. Joe Towns, Memphis, TN
State Sen. Charles Jones, Monroe, LA
State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas, Philadelphia, PA.
State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland, Chester, PA
State Rep. Earl Banks, Jackson, MS
State Rep. Jim Evans, Jackson, MS
State Rep. Erik Fleming, Jackson, MS
State Rep. Felipe Reinoso, Bridgeport, CT
State Rep. Joe Neal, Columbia, SC
State Rep. Milton Fitch, Wilson, NC
State Rep. David Mack, Charleston, SC
State Rep. Walter Lloyd, Walterboro, SC
State Rep. John Rogers, Birmingham, Al
State Rep. Joseph Mitchell, Mobile, Al
State Rep. Thomas Jackson, Thomasville, Al
State Rep. James Thomas, Selma, Al
State Rep. William Clark, Pritchard, Al
State Rep. John Letson, Moulton, Al
State Rep. Demetrius Newton, Speaker Pro Tem, Birmingham, Al
State Rep. Pedro Colon, Milwaukee, Wisc
State Rep. Christine Sinicki, Milwaukee, Wisc
State Rep. Louis Ford, St. Louis, Mo.
State Rep. Ben Swan, Springfield, Mass.
State Rep. Dennis Williams, Wilmington, Del.
State Rep. Mark Smith, Iowa New: Rep. Charles Quincy Troupe, St. Louis,
MO
Sen. Ray Murphy, Detroit, MI
Rep. Eric Major, Birmingham, AL
Rep. Dale Swenson, Wichita, KS
Rep. Charles Hudson, Opelousas, LA
Rev. B.T. Rice, St. Louis, MO
Eligio Martinez, City Councilmember, San Luis, CO
Olga Salazar, chair, Health and Safety Committee, UAW local 2145, Saginaw,
MI
Brenda Scott-Pres., MASE/CWA , Jackson, Ms.
Ray Trevino, president, UAW local 925, St. Johns, MI
Angel Cintron, deputy mayor, Haverstraw, NY
Mary Burpee organizer, AFSCME Council 40, Elkhorn, WI
Jose Miguel Rodriguez Juarbe, member of NALEO (National Association of
Latino Elected Officials), former member of the Camden BOE, and member of the
Dept of Development of Camden, Camden, NJ
Father Richard A. Sinner, Fargo, ND
Edward Bivens, former mayor, Inkster, MI
Hon. Raymond Meyer, former State Legislator ND Sioux County, ND.
Idell Mitchell, president, National Postal Professional Nurses Union,
Temple Hills, Md.
Diana Fennell, mayor, Colmar Manor, MD
Dave Brode, COPE director and vice president, AFL-CIO, Western Maryland
Central Labor Council
James Palmer, Executive Board Democratic Party, Gadsden County, FL
Bobby Richardson, former chairman, Miller County Demorcratic Party,
Colquitt, GA.
Ann Turner, county chairman, ADC, and Vice Chairman Democractic Party for
Marion County, AL
Geneva Bledso, mayor, Five Points, AL, and Chairman of ADC, Chambers
County, AL
John E. Bigelow, former member, Anderson Co. Health Council, and East
Tennessee Health Improvement Council under Hill-Burton, Oak Ridge, TN
Rev. Richard McSorley SJ, Georgetown U, dir Center for Peace Studies
Washington, D.C.
Melvin Muhammad, former pres NAPE/AFSCEM, Douglas County Democratic Party,
Omaha, NE
Ernest Summerville, Chairman, Pickens County Commission, Aliceville, Al
Isaac Bonner, Sumter County Commissioner, Aliceville, Al
Curtis Gray, County Commissioner, Bay Springs, MS
Rev. Randy Royal, Pitt County Commissioner, Greenville, NC
Maggie Daniels, Iberia Parish Council, New Iberia, La.
Martin L. Richard, Iberia Parish Council, New Iberia, La.
Richard Feeney, County Commissioner, Cumberland County, Portland, Me
Robert Woods, Saginaw County Commissioner, Saginaw, MI
Louis C. Hoggard III, Berte County Commissioner, Windsor, NC
Charles R. Kelley, Baton Rouge City Council, Baton Rouge, La
Charles Ruth, Saginaw County Commissioner, Saginaw, MI
Zettie Williams, County Commissioner, Magnolia, NC
Ocie Pleasant, Jr. Election Commissioner, Memphis, Tn
Malachi Faison, Sampson County Commissioner, Clinton, NC
Mary Jo Heiland, licensed psychiatric health care technician, Wichita, KS
Linda Morris, PUSH Woman's Board, VP; Chattanooga, TN
Wali Muhammad, New Orleans, LA
Adwoa Nyamelye, Exec. Dir., Black Employees Assn., Los Angeles
Susan Espiritu Maquindang, Exec. Dir., Filipino American Service Group, Los
Angeles, CA
Haitham Aranki, pres., Arab American Club, Santa Fe Springs, CA
Amelia Boynton Robinson, civil rights leader, Tuskegee, Al
Milo Bartek, former director, Saunders County Health Board; former Chair,
Mental Health and Retarded Services Board for Southeast Nebraska; former member,
Governor's Advisory Board for the Department of Public Institutions, Wahoo, NE,
Simone Issertes, Registered Nurse, Altadena, CA NEW:
W. Harry Cone, Mayor, Walterboro, SC
Nathaniel Martin, Pres., City Council, East Cleveland, OH
O. Mays, Vice President, City Council, East Cleveland, OH
Ed Taylor, Councilman, Flint, MI
Danny Hamilton, Councilman, Kinder, LA
Betty Franklin, City Council, Greenville, TX
Yvonne McMillan, City Council, Warrensville Hgts, OH
Idotha Neal, City Council, OH
Aubry Brent, City Council, Yazoo City, MS
Nancy Carter, City Council, Charlotte, NC
Don Moore, City Councilman, Uniontown, AL
Morrell Bolding, DOJ, Washington, D.C.
James E. Wolfe, City Council, Jackson, MS
Robert White, City Council, Gary, IN
Chuck Hughes, City Council, Gary, IN
Franklin Smalls, City Council, Walterboro, SC
Robert Mitchell, City Council, CHarleston, SC
George Garwood, Jr., City Council, So. Ogden, UT
Jean Birmingham, City Commissioner, Marshal, TX
Roy Burrell. City Council, Shreveport, LA
Dr. Lucille C. Norville Perez, President-Elect, National Medical
Association
Dr. Brenda Perryman, National Medical Association, Cleveland, OH
Stacey Solmon, Democratic Convention Delegate, 2000
Sue Daniel, financial secy, Smith Co. Central Labor Council; co-chair, COPE
committee IUE, Delegate to the '2000 Democratic convention, Frankston, TX
Vivian Koonce, Treas., Dem. Central Committee Jackson County, FL
John James, Chairman, Douglas County Dem Party, Duuglas County, GA
Tom Pratt, Treasurer, Maryland statewide Democratic Central Committee
William J. Breeding, Chairman, Greene County Dem Party Greene Co, GA
Ronald James, Chairman, Jasper County Democratic Party, Jasper County, GA
Quentin Montgomery, Dir., Chapel Hill Citizen Assn, retired aide, U.S.
Senate Library, Ft. Washington, MD
Marcellus McBride, Chairman, Marion County Democratic Party, City
Councilman, Buena Vista, GA
James Whitley, Batallion Fire Chief Wash. DC, Mitchellville MD
Robin Reid, Councilman, former Mayor, Glenardern, MD
Ed Evans, President, NPMTU, local #305, Springfield, FL. (National Postal
Mail Haulers Union)
Michael Sullivan, County Housing Commissoner, Hernando, Springfield, FL.
Mary Rasmussen, DNC member, Boyceville, WI
OTHER STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT
FROM: Black American Political Assocation of California (BAPAC)
Greetings to Emergency Meeting to stop the shutdown of D.C. General
Hospital:
The poor and Black communities across this nation ahve lost health care
facilities. Many people have died traveling across town to get treatment, and
then are turned away. The Black community has more trauma victims than other
communities. Hospital tgrau centers have been closed. Homer G. Phillips Hospital
in St. Louis, where I grew up, was closed. It had been serving the Black
community there since the 1930s. They ahd one of the best trauma centers in the
country. If we don't stop closing hospitals like D.C. General, it's going to have
disastrous effects.
Joseph F. Walker
Chairman, Carson Chapter, Black American Politican Association of
California FROM: Congress of Racial Equality, California
Greetings to the town meeting to save D.C. General Hospital:
We totally back your fight to save D.C. General, and its vital medical
service to the people of Washington, D.C., especially the poor who have no other
source of medical care. Let's say it--to shut down a hospital like D.C. General
is racist murder! There are many people here in South Central LA and throughout
Los Angeles County who have relatives in D.C., and are going to be very upset if
the hospital is sold down the river.
Celes King III
California State Chairman FROM: East Los Angeles Baptist Ministers Union
Greetings to pastor Wilson and all those defending the "General Welfare"
of Americans"
We wholeheartedly support your struggle to keep Washington D.C. General
Hospital open and available to the citizens of our nation's capitol. We so clear
see that today, a great evil stalks the land. There is economic chaos and
collapse around the world; the dangers of war, famine, and diseases.
The United States has, for two centuries, been the hope of all mankind. As
the poet said: "Give us your tired, you poor..." What do we say to the world
when, in our nation's very capitol, we cease providing for the needs of our
tired, our poor?
We, therefore, join in your struggle, support it and ppray for God's
blessings upon it.
Yours,
Pastor Julius Bridges
President, East Los Angeles Baptist Ministers Union FROM: King/Drew
Medical University, New York
To: participants of the town meeting of March 3, 2001
Regarding: The Future of the District of Columia General Hospital.
March 2, 2001
In 1955 when the D.C. General Hospital was medically controlled by the
Georgetown and George Washington University Medical Schools, the major issue
surrounding the hospital was that of the apartheid system, based upon racial
cast. As Howard University Medical students rotating through the hospital
pediatric service, we represented Howard's thrust to eradicate that system and
to assure the proper deliverance of good medical care to all regardless of race.
In 1963, when I returned to D.C. General Hospital to complete my pediatric
residency, I was impressed both with the great expanse of undeveloped public land
which only supported the hospital and the jail and with its proximity to the
Robert F. Kennedy stadium. More important, because the medical staffs had been
integrated into three interactive divisions and because all those divisions were
inadequately funded, I felt that the major issue facing D.C. General was that of
socio-economic caste. However, during this period of civil unrest, since the
majority of the patient population was now as black as they were poor, the issue
of underfunding was still that of a caste system hidden under the flag of class.
Today, in 2001, the question of the continued existence of D.C. General
Hospital as a public institution if it is to exist at all, is predicated upon
greediness which has become the national motto since 1980. Moreover, the issue
present at the institution is the same issue which has been raised in almost
every urban city across the nation. Standing as a public hog at a private
slaughterhouse, D.C. General Hospital, if privatized, will make available to
greeding entrepreneurs the public funds set aside to give adequate healthcare to
the poor. Moreover, the fact that the question has been raised potentially opens
the path for the privatization of premium public land reaching from the D.C.
Jail, past the D.C. Hospital, to the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. The successful
accomplishment of gaining public wealth through the destruction of public
services and institutions is made more easy when the poor socio-economic class
served and the Black caste complaining are one and the same.
Ernest H. Smith, M.D. D.C. General Hospital
Associate Professor, Pediatrics Alumnus Pediatric Program
King/Drew Medical University June 1964
Los Angeles, Calif. 90059