On March 9, members of 1199SEIU rallied at the DC City Council to fight back against a plan to slash services at United Medical Center (UMC), the only full-service acute care hospital east of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC.More than 300 members of 1199 work at United Medical Center, caring for the city’s most underserved residents. For years the hospital has contended with the challenges of serving low-income, uninsured and underinsured patients. In 2010, the hospital was taken over by the District.Since then, management is improving, and so are care and the hospital’s financial picture – last year the hospital even posted a profit for the first time in more than a decade. The hospital now boasts a thriving obstetrics practice, a world-class Children’s ER, and other services that meet the unique needs of the community, including programs for diabetic patients, a skilled nursing unit, and an innovative HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention program.All this progress is threatened by a plan put forward by DC Mayor Vincent Gray, who is seeking to move the hospital off the District’s books as quickly as possible. The plan would strip services, jobs and care at the facility in favor of greater profitability with little regard for community needs. The plan envisions a series of private outpatient clinics, in place of the only full-service hospital tailored to meet community needs currently serving “East of the River” residents.Among the 1199 members testifying against the Mayor’s plan was Jesse Adams, a Floor Technician at the hospital, lives only blocks from the hospital and whose family has received emergency care at the hospital. “Workers are invested in the future of United Medical Center. The patients and community members I talk to are happy with the quality of care,” Adams explains. “Things seem really positive at the hospital. So I don’t understand why the city would want to slash services.”1199 members were joined by community activists, including Skilled Nursing Facility resident Denise Rivers, who told councilmembers, “The communities east of the Anacostia need United Medical Center and all of its services. We need the emergency room to remain open. Doctors there saved my leg. They may well have saved my daughter Jessica’s life on more than one occasion when her asthma sent her to the UMC emergency room. I urge you not abandoned the Skilled Nursing Facility and the people who live there… The facility needs to stay open.”Sadly, Councilmembers Alexander and Barry, who represent residents of Wards 7 & 8, the communities most served by United Medical Center, haven’t taken a stand against Mayor Gray’s plan.“We’ve got to put pressure on the Mayor and other politicians,” explains Alma Ames, an 1199 delegate and an LPN at United Medical Center. “The Mayor has been able to get this far because the media isn’t reporting on his plans for UMC. If they are reporting on UMC, it’s to call the hospital a financial mess and a drain on the city. The public needs to know the truth.”Members of 1199 will be mobilizing in the coming weeks and months to get their story out and get the residents of Ward 7 and Ward 8 behind the hospital. They’re also bringing information directly to voters in Wards 7 and 8 before the primary on April 3rd. Mailings to likely voters will let them know where their councilmembers stand on care east of the Anacostia.- See more at: http://www.1199seiu.org/1199_members_bring_fight_to_save_southeast_dc_hospital_to_the_city_council#sthash.G2pfFANR.dpuf