Children's National Hospital wants to move

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:public transportation is important but so is parking. How many people take the metro with a sick child? Not many.

Won't someone think of the oppressed drivers? So persecuted...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone except the private business get to decide where they locate?

(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that the District of Columbia and Children’s National Hospital have reached an exclusive one-year agreement to evaluate sites for a new hospital campus within the District. To support this effort, the Mayor has proposed $1 million in her FY26 Supplemental Budget to fund comprehensive site assessments and due diligence.

Ha ha ha. The mayor is going to spend $1 million to help a private business evaluate potential sites. No guarantees about which, if any, site is chosen. If she didn't spend this money, the hospital would still do the same evaluations.

Want the business to stay? Offer a $1 million tax break.

What DC taxes do you think they pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could they go to the old Providence Hospital site?

They closed because it was 90% medicaid. Not profitable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Link? Why do they want to move? What is wrong with their current location?

Selfishly I would prefer they stay where they are because we live on the east side and it's reassuring to me to know they are not too hard to get to. When we have had to go to the emergency room for an adult, it sucks from where we live, and that would be so much worse with a kid in a medical emergency.

But just for access to specialists, I'm more neutral. The current location is convenient, but I've gone much further for specialists appointments so that's not as big of a deal. The main issue is the ER and being in a central location accessible from many parts of town.

For people who don't use it as a general hospital, its painful to get to, especially since so many of Children's patients have to see specialists several times a month or year AT least. Its so stressful just getting there.

It actually easy. Most people dont realize that the hospital has free shuttles from Columbia Heights, Union Station, and Brookland Metro. They run every 15 minutes, 14 hours per day.

[Anonymous]

This isn't really helpful because DC doesn't have a comparable location, but we had to go to the Childrens' Hospital in Houston a few years ago and the location there is amazing because it's adjacent to Hermann Park (which is itself an amazing amenity). Huge park with zoo, playgrounds, a lake with paddle boats, etc. There are also a decent number of family restaurants and places to eat nearby.

It made me realize how valuable a really nice site is for a hospital, especially a children's hospital. We had some stressful days while there and sometimes I'd go walk around the Japanese gardens just to help bring my blood pressure down. We took our kid to the playgrounds there a couple times, and they are incredibly nice, plus there's a carousel and really nice splash park (necessary once summer heat starts going).

More than once, I saw kids on the carousel or at the playground who were clearly in the cancer unit at the hospital, there with caregivers and sometimes even hospital staff -- amazing to be able to do that with kids in the hospital long term.

Having restaurants nearby was also so helpful, as well as stuff like a pharmacy and other conveniences. Also, I should mention there are a ton of hotels near the hospital (Children's is not the only hospital there, it's a huge complex). Obviously helpful for us, but even if you were from Houston I'm sure it's useful to have the option of staying nearby overnight or for a short period rather than driving home, or if family come to visit.

Houston traffic is a nightmare so getting there from other parts of the city must be really annoying, but somehow it also manages to be fairly close to one of the city's very limited light rail stops.

I can't think of anywhere in DC (or even surrounding areas) that has all that, but just mentally comparing the to the experiences we've had at hospitals in the DMV and recalling the location made that experience a lot better than it could have been because of nearby amenities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone except the private business get to decide where they locate?

(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that the District of Columbia and Children’s National Hospital have reached an exclusive one-year agreement to evaluate sites for a new hospital campus within the District. To support this effort, the Mayor has proposed $1 million in her FY26 Supplemental Budget to fund comprehensive site assessments and due diligence.

Ha ha ha. The mayor is going to spend $1 million to help a private business evaluate potential sites. No guarantees about which, if any, site is chosen. If she didn't spend this money, the hospital would still do the same evaluations.

Want the business to stay? Offer a $1 million tax break.

What DC taxes do you think they pay?

Giving them $1 million to study properties isn't going to help either. The hospital currently leases. Give them $1 million grant toward the purchase of property in DC. Or use the $1 million to pay for the licensing fees for the doctors and nurses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:public transportation is important but so is parking. How many people take the metro with a sick child? Not many.

Uh. MANY.

I work at Children's and a lot of patients/families arrive via Metro (and then shuttle.) Not everyone has a car and/or can afford an Uber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:public transportation is important but so is parking. How many people take the metro with a sick child? Not many.

Uh. MANY.

I work at Children's and a lot of patients/families arrive via Metro (and then shuttle.) Not everyone has a car and/or can afford an Uber.

I used to work at CNH and I agree with you. A lot of families came to us via Metro. However, I think in this PP's defense, she means an acutely sick child vs. a chronically ill child. Yes, a family whose child has epilepsy and is visiting CNH for a medication management visit will probably be fine taking the metro or bus. A family with a feverish, vomiting child is probably going to prefer car, if they have access to one.

They do have shuttles from Columbia Heights and Brookland, but I agree with a lot of you, that's not really a draw when you have a sick or injured child and it's cold and rainy and you have to wait outside for ten minutes for the shuttle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks, it's stressful to get to the current location from certain parts of town.

Wherever they move will have the same problem.

People who live close to the current location do not find it hard to get there. If you live in Petworth, Brookland, Capitol Hill, etc., the current location is pretty great. If you live across the river or Georgetown, it's a pain. But moving it to another neighborhood doesn't solve this problem, it just shifts who it is convenient for and who it's not convenient for.

Also the people complaining about the difficulty of reaching the current location and the parking garage in the same breath are working at cross purposes. A more central location would make it more accessible by public transit, but would likely make parking even worse than it currently is. You also have to think about emergency vehicle traffic -- the current location can be a pain to drive to but there are advantages of being near the junction of two major thoroughfares with multiple lanes, because it makes it easier for ambulances to get to there.

One of the major features of Children's is that it is the only Trauma 1 level children's ER in the entire region. So ER accessibility is really important, more so than access to specialists, sadly for those of us whose kids need to see specialists there frequently!

Hospital location can be really difficult. I am not sure I can think of a site elsewhere in the city that is obviously superior to their current site, even though I totally understand what is not ideal about the current site.

Is INOVA Childrens in Fairfax not Level 1 Trauma? (I'm unsure).

Inova Fairfax Hospital is a Level 1 Trauma center and handles all ages.

Childrens is the only local Level 1 Trauma that only serves pediatric patients.

Inova has a dedicated pediatric ER. They have plenty of specialists that only treat children and it's my understanding that they actually treat more kids per year at their trauma center than Children's National. It's a much busier ER. I would guess the emergency services they provide are comparable to Children's National.