DC drops lawsuit against Ascension over hospital closure

Alyssa Rege -

The District of Columbia dropped its lawsuit against St. Louis-based Ascension and its Washington, D.C.-based hospital over the facility's closure March 6, just days before both parties were scheduled to appear in court, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Three things to know:

1. A District of Columbia Superior Court judge dropped the lawsuit March 6. The decision was based on the Washington district attorney's office's decision to dismiss the claims against Ascension and Providence Health System.

2. The city sued Ascension in December 2018 over Providence Health System's proposed closure. The day the lawsuit was filed, Ascension closed most of the health system's operations, citing declining patient volumes, and initiated plans to create a "health village" to provide outpatient care.

3. However, Ascension received significant backlash over the proposed closure and opted to offer a scaled-down emergency department through April 30. The health system also filed paperwork with the city to open an urgent care center on-site.

Editor's note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to Ascension for comment and will update this story as more information becomes available.

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