Quantcast
College Media Network

Newsroom

News and Analysis

Tag

GW Hospital

Former Vice President Dick Cheney checked in to GW Hospital Thursday morning for elective back surgery, Cheney spokeswoman Lucy Tutwiler said this morning.

Cheney will undergo surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis, a condition where the spinal canal narrows, irritating nerves from the spinal cord, according to the medical Web site WebMD.com.

Tutwiler said the operation will be performed by Dr. Anthony Caputy, the Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery.

The former Vice President, who has suffered four heart attacks since 1978, has maintained a close relationship with the hospital, where he has received treatment on several occasions. He established the Richard B. and Lynne V. Cheney Cardiovascular Institute, a GW research, education and community service center, after a $2.7 million donation in 2006. He was last treated at GW for an atrial fibrillation last fall.

  • Permalink
  • Comments
Congressmen and panelists discuss health care at GW Hospital Tuesday. Courtesy Dawn Garrott/GW Medical Center.

Congressmen and panelists discuss health care at GW Hospital Tuesday. Courtesy Dawn Garrott/GW Medical Center.

This post was written by Staff Writer Husna Kazmir.

Seven members of Congress who also work as physicians aired their grievances with public health care in front of a crowd of about 70 in an auditorium at GW Hospital Tuesday afternoon.

The panel, hosted by the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, was called “Reforming America’s Health: From Diagnosis to Prescription” and featured Republican Reps. Michael Burgess of Texas, Bill Cassidy and John Fleming of Louisiana, Phil Gingrey and Tom Price of Georgia, Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania and Phil Roe of Tennessee.

In the hour-and-forty-minute-long forum, the panelists were questioned by three board members of the MSDC and expressed frustration with President Obama’s health care plan, with Gingrey likening it to “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

“My suggestion is fixing the system we have,” he said, expressing concern about the president’s overhaul, which some estimates say could cost $1 trillion over the next decade. He later added, “You have a socialist bureaucrat in the exam room between the doctor and the patient.”

Roe said his main issue with the proposed plan is that he had seen a similar plan in his home state of Tennessee fail.

“We tried this experiment with a public plan in Tennessee,” he said, referring to TennCare, a 1994 plan designed to expand coverage to the uninsured, which has been plagued by issues of debt and fraud in recent years.

All of the politicians on the panel agreed that the health care system must undergo dramatic changes at any rate, and emphasized the importance of patient benefits.

“If it’s not patient-centric, it’s not gonna work,” Cassidy said.

  • Permalink
  • Comments
Monday, June 22, 2009 10:56 p.m.

Foggy Bottom crime roundup

A quick look at some Foggy Bottom crime during the first part of the summer:

A female non-student summer resident was found off campus by a Metropolitan Police Department officer on June 6, according to a University Police Chief Dolores Stafford. The resident was under the influence of alcohol, was not wearing shoes, and did not have any belongings. She told police the last thing she remembered was drinking in the VIP section of an off-campus nightclub and was unsure whether or not she had been sexually assaulted. She was transported to the Washington Hospital Center.

A female non-student summer resident of Strong Hall was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute on June 10 after a Health and Safety inspection resulted in the discovery of drug paraphernalia. A GW employee conducted an administrative search and discovered a medium-sized green smoking pipe, a small purple, green and white smoking pipe, a small orange smoking pipe, a silver metal grinder, a scale, more than three hundred dollars in cash, two white cigarettes containing a green substance, and three clear plastic bags containing approximately 46 grams of marijuana.

A female student was arrested in Guthridge Hall on May 13 for possession of marijuana and mushrooms. UPD officers responded to a report of a suspicious odor and discovered the resident and a male guest in the room. The community director performed an administrative search and discovered “burned down roaches,” 10.5 grams of mushrooms and 1.8 grams of marijuana, according to court documents.

A man was arrested May 4 at GW Hospital for unlawful entry, according to court documents. Hospital staff reported that the man said he refused to leave the hospital due to what he referred to as a civil dispute. Though the man was reportedly asked to leave, he instead verbally abused employees and laid down on the floor. A security officer for the hospital handcuffed the man, placed him in a wheelchair and transported him to the security office, where he was verbally argumentative, according to court documents. After being informed that a barring notice against him had been filed, the man said he was going to sit down in peaceful resistance and would have to be arrested to leave the location. He was then arrested by MPD.

A man was arrested in May for assaulting a co-worker at their office at 2112 F St. NW. According to court documents, the man allegedly entered the victim’s office and stared at her. The victim then told the man she had been trying to get in contact with a client but he had not been returning her calls. The man replied, “he won’t call you back because he knows you won’t give me any pussy,” according to court documents. He then grabbed her throat and said, “Why don’t you just give me the pussy.” The victim lifted her foot to his face to block him and he grabbed her ankle, extended it in the air and then exited the office.

A woman was arrested May 18 for assaulting and threatening a 52-year-old woman and a 72-year-old woman in front at 801 New Hampshure Ave. NW, according to court documents. The arrested woman allegedly approached the 52-year-old, grabbed her hair and accused her of stealing her glasses. The alleged attacker then began to scratch her in the face and punch her in the head. According to the court documents, the 72-year-old attempted to intervene but was hit in the left arm and left side of the face. The arrested woman then fled the scene, but a doorman at the Doubletree Hotel was able to point her out to MPD officers.

  • Permalink
  • Comments
Thursday, June 18, 2009 7:39 a.m.

Clinton treated at GW Hospital

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was taken to the GW Hospital for treatment Wednesday, after she fell and fractured her right elbow, the Associated Press reported.

Clinton, who was on her way to the White House when she injured herself, will undergo surgery next week, her chief of staff Cheryl Mills said in a statement.

This is the second political figure to be treated for a broken bone at the GW Hospital this month.

On June 8, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was treated at the GW Hospital after she fractured her right ankle while falling in the LaGuardia Airport in New York. Sotomayor was on her way to D.C. for a series of meetings on Capitol Hill with at least six Senators as part of her nomination to the Supreme Court.

  • Permalink
  • Comments
Media organizations at GW Hospital are reporting from Washington Circle.

Media organizations at GW Hospital are reporting from Washington Circle.

Update 5:47 p.m. 39-year-old Special Police Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, a Temple Hills, MD resident, was pronounced dead after being transported to GW Hospital after the shooting, according to a Metropolitan Police Department statement. The statement also said that the gunman suffered injuries after two Special Police Officers guarding the front entrance of the museum returned fire on him.

Update 4:59 p.m. The Holocaust Memorial Museum will be closed on Thursday and flags flown at half mast in honor of Stephen Tyrone Johns, the security guard shot to death by 88-year old white supremacist James Von Brunn, according to a statement released by the museum.

“Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns died heroically in the line of duty today. There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events. He served on the Museum’s security staff for six years.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns’ family,” the statement says.

Update 4:20 p.m. The security guard injured in the shooting has died at the GW Hospital, CNN is reporting.

Update 3:20 p.m. Two shooting victims–the gunman and the security guard he shot–were rushed to the GW Hospital for treatment just before 1 p.m. today, police and GW Hospital officials said.

Traci Hughes, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police Department, said a man walked into the Holocaust Memorial Museum in downtown D.C. with a gun and immediately shot a security guard. The other security guards in the lobby returned fire, injuring the suspect. Both parties were then rushed to GW Hospital for treatment.

Nicole Pokryfka, a spokeswoman for the hospital, confirmed that two gunshot victims from the Holocaust Museum were being treated. D.C Mayor Adrian Fenty said the security guard shot by the gunman is in “grave condition.” Fenty described the gunman as in “critical condition.”

“A lone gunman came into the entrance and immediately opened fire, striking one security guard,” Fenty said at a press conference near the museum. “Our hearts go out to the security guard’s family.”

Police have confirmed that the gunman is James Von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist who lives in Maryland.

Sarah Scire contributed to this report.

  • Permalink
  • Comments

Two males were caught and arrested Thursday night at around 7:30 p.m. after they stole a cell phone from a GW graduate student in the Foggy Bottom Metro station.

The female student said a group of people stole her phone from her hand and ran out of the Metro station. A Metropolitan Police Department officer said the student could only identify two of the thieves.

“I was getting on the Metro and a guy with his friends, I don’t know who, snatched my phone out of my hand,” the student said.

The MPD officer caught two of the suspects in the 7-11 behind the GW Hospital, but they did not have the phone on them. The officer said they threw the phone during the chase down the I Street mall.

  • Permalink
  • Comments (1)

Rep. Pete Olson was taken to the GW Hospital Thursday after he fainted while working out in the gym on Capitol Hill, according to numerous news sources.

Olson, a Texas Republican, was treated for bradycardia — a slow heart rate — and was equipped with a pacemaker, CNN reported.

“While working out in the House gym, I got quite dizzy and fainted,” Olson said in a press release, according to CNN. “After being rushed to George Washington University Hospital, it was determined that I had a condition called bradycardia, which is medical talk for a slow heart beat. Whatever they call it, it wasn’t good and I don’t recommend it.”

The CNN report said Olson is expected to return to work next week.

  • Permalink
  • Comments

The Starbucks located on the first floor of GW Hospital will offer uninterrupted service from Sunday 7a.m. to Friday at 10 p.m., according to a medical center announcement.

The coffee shop, which will also be open on Sundays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., officially accepts GWorld, although its machine has been broken for more than two weeks.

The Starbucks is the second location on campus to offer 24-hour service after the Gelman  Library location, which began last year.

  • Permalink
  • Comments

Attorney General Michael Mukasey was released from GW Hospital at about noon today after undergoing several routine tests and overnight observation.

Mukasey was sent to the hospital late last night after collapsing during a speech at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Northwest D.C.

Justice Department Spokeswoman Gina Talamona said doctors concluded the Attorney General has a “clean bill of health.”

“There’s no indication that he suffered a stroke or any heart related incident,” she said to about 20 reporters across from the hospital in Washington Circle. “It really appears to have been a fainting spell.”

Mukasey was apparently smiling as he left the hospital this afternoon and headed to his office, according to The Washington Post, which has the full story.

  • Permalink
  • Comments (1)

A silver Toyota collided into a motorcycle at the corner of 20th and K streets at about 3 p.m. Thursday, sending the car driver to the GW Hospital.

The motorcycle stopped for a red light and the car continued on, throwing the cyclist off his bike, said Marshall Smith who works for The Prime Rib, a restaurant about 20 yards away from the crash.

“(The cyclist) went over the median bus stop, the motorcycle went onto the curb and the man landed in the street,” Smith said.

He added, “I believe it was fatal.”

Although the police officers on the scene could not confirm if the car driver died, Smith said “the police officer told us it was fatal.”

The Metropolitan Police Department Public Information Office had not received a full report of the crash late Thursday afternoon.

MPD Officer Israel James said, “I know it was a serious accident involving a motorcycle but we haven’t gotten any recent updates.”

  • Permalink
  • Comments