Code of the District of Columbia

§ 7–1932. Authorization of grants.

(a) The Mayor is authorized to make grants from the Fund and to enter into agreements with the recipients of the grants containing any terms and conditions that the Mayor determines necessary or appropriate to effect a purpose of the Fund, as described in § 7-1931(b).

(b) Of the funds available, the Mayor shall:

(1) Reserve up to $116 million for construction of health care facilities, subject to subsection (c) of this section. Any grant awarded pursuant to this paragraph shall be awarded through competitive bidding in accordance with Unit A of Chapter 3 of Title 2 [§ 2-301.01 et seq.]. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this paragraph, the Mayor may invest, subject to approval by the Council, up to $79 million to capitalize a public-private partnership by non-competitive negotiations with Specialty Hospitals of America, LLC, or certain of its subsidiary entities, to acquire, improve, and operate Greater Southeast Community Hospital; provided, that notwithstanding any agreement regarding the repayment of funds associated with this public-private partnership, beginning in calendar year 2009, repayment by Specialty Hospitals of America, LLC, or certain of its subsidiaries, of the $20 million working capital loan shall be deferred until December 31, 2015, at which time the originally agreed to repayment schedule shall resume.

(2) Reserve up to $80 million for urgent and emergent care upgrades, subject to subsection (c) of this section. Any grant awarded pursuant to this paragraph shall be awarded through competitive bidding in accordance with Unit A of Chapter 3 of Title 2 [§ 2-301.01 et seq.];

(3) Reserve $4.6 million to fund a comprehensive chronic disease management and prevention program related to the 10 leading causes of death in the District of Columbia to be administered by nonprofit organizations in partnership with the Department of Health. Any grant awarded pursuant to this paragraph shall be awarded through competitive bidding in accordance with Unit A of Chapter 3 of Title 2 [§ 2-301.01 et seq.];

(4) Grant $16.5 million to the D.C. Cancer Consortium to implement a comprehensive cancer prevention program, subject to subsection (d) of this section; provided, that $750,000 shall be utilized during fiscal year 2010 to support tobacco cessation programs including the DC Quitline and free nicotine replacement programs for District residents.

(5) Grant $10 million to the American Lung Association of the District of Columbia to implement a tobacco cessation program in partnership with the American Cancer Society, subject to subsection (d) of this section;

(6) Grant $6 million to the District of Columbia Primary Care Association (“DCPCA”), subject to subsection (d) of this section, for the purpose of establishing a regional health information exchange program, which shall be modeled on other regional health information organizations that have been established in other regions around the United States, among community health centers, hospitals, physician practices, and other health care providers to improve patient coordination of care and health outcomes and to build a secure database of patient health information that can be used for disease surveillance, quality-monitoring, policy-making, and clinical research; the DCPCA shall partner with the National Institute of Medical Informatics to develop a regional health information organization, with DCPCA initially acting as fiscal agent and subsequently sub-granting the funds to the regional health information organization once it is staffed;

(7) Grant up to $1.5 million to the Rand Corporation, subject to subsection (d) of this section, for the following purposes:

(A) Conducting a comprehensive assessment of the District’s health care delivery system for individuals with urgent or emergent medical needs and recommending improvements and expansions of that system;

(B) Conducting a comprehensive assessment of the health care needs in Wards 7 and 8 and making recommendations to address the identified health care needs in those Wards; and

(C) Providing an analysis of the ongoing operating and capital costs associated with the development of ambulatory health care centers and of other health care facilities, including the Healthplex model;

(8) Grant $1.5 million for the purpose of procuring emergency transport vehicles; subject to the completion of a deployment plan that indicates annual operating costs, staffing requirements, and maintenance costs;

(9) For fiscal year 2010, grant $750,000 to support operational expenses associated with the Medical Homes DC Initiative, subject to subsection (d) of this section; and

(10) For fiscal year 2011:

(A) Allocate $4.4 million to support health services at the D.C. Jail; and

(B) Allocate $1 million to support the District’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

(c)(1) Use of the reserved funds as authorized by subsection (b)(1) and (2) of this section shall be contingent upon the findings of the comprehensive assessment described in subsection (b)(7) of this section.

(2) The Mayor is authorized to issue a request for proposals based upon the findings of the comprehensive assessment described in subsection (b)(7) of this section to promote health care and for the delivery of health care related services in the District, including the construction of health care facilities and the operation of health care related programs.

(3) Any reserved funds authorized by subsection (b)(1) and (2) of this section made available to Greater Southeast Community Hospital shall be contingent upon the condition that Greater Southeast Community Hospital changes ownership.

(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Mayor is authorized to enter into a public/private partnership with a new owner of Greater Southeast Community Hospital to assure the continued operation of the District’s existing programs (the psychiatric unit, clinics-primary care, specialty unit, and corrections unit) and the operation of planned programs (the comprehensive psychiatric emergency program, the expansion of the psychiatric unit, and a Detox unit) that are at, or planned for, the hospital, as well as other future programs, and the delivery of quality health care for the District’s residents living in the far northeast and southeast areas of the District; provided, that any public/private partnership requires that any new hospital constructed on the Greater Southeast Community Hospital campus integrate all of the mentioned existing and planned programs into the new facility; provided further, that the operating costs associated with the services described herein shall not come from the Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund established by § 7-1811.01.

(d)(1) A grant awarded pursuant to subsection (b)(4),(5), (6), (7), or (9) of this section shall be awarded through noncompetitive negotiations; provided, that the grant be submitted to the Council for a 10-day period of review, excluding days of Council recess.

(2) If the Council does not approve or disapprove the grant by resolution within the 10-day review period, the grant shall be deemed approved.