Washington D.C. Hospital Closure

Members at United Medical Center, located in the southeast of Washington D.C., worked their last day on April 15. The hospital had served the community for six decades, but the city, which had managed UMC since 2010, first announced that the hospital would shut its doors in 2019. Campaigning by 1199 members successfully delayed the closure twice. In the end, it was only 1199 members who were able to successfully negotiate severance payments.

“The resilience and dedication of our members and leaders at this facility has been a blessing,” 1199 Vice President, Carrietta Hiers, said. “We’ve won many grievances, fought back, and won arbitrations ensuring that UMC honored our collective bargaining agreement. We take solace in knowing that we fought the good fight and that our union members are better off for it.”

UMC opened as Morris Cafritz Memorial Hospital in 1966. The facility was renamed to Greater Southeast Community Hospital before becoming United Medical Center in 2008, at which time 1199 had represented workers in the facility for several years. At its peak, the union represented roughly 400 UMC employees.