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| Donald Blanchon, CEO of Whitman-Walker Clinic, said the Clinic is welcoming nearly 2,000 new clients from Washington Free Clinic, which closed Jan. 12. (Photo by Janelle Zara) |
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: LOU CHIBBARO J COMMENTS
 
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12, Washington Free Clinic had an operating budget of about $1 million, a small fraction of Whitman-Walker’s $22 million budget.
Clinic staff to relocate
The arrival of the Washington Free Clinic’s clients and staff at Whitman-Walker’s Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, at 1701 14th St., N.W., comes about two months before nearly all of Whitman-Walker’s staff is expected to move into the cramped building. The Clinic’s administrative staff, including Blanchon, will be moving out of the Clinic’s headquarters building at 1407 S St., N.W., to make way for a multi-million dollar real estate deal the Clinic is about to enter into with a private developer.
Clinic officials announced last year they would sell the headquarters building and the Elizabeth Taylor building — both located on highly valuable land in the rapidly changing 14th Street corridor — to developers to obtain cash to be used for future growth and expansion. As a condition of the sale of its buildings, the Clinic is to own about 30,000 square feet of space in a new, high-rise building expected to replace the current headquarters building at 14th and S Streets, according to information released by Clinic officials.
The arrangement also calls for the Clinic to sell its Max Robinson Clinic building in Anacostia, with the intent of moving that clinic to a new and expanded facility.
“Our goal is to develop new, state-of-the-art facilities that will allow Whitman-Walker to continue to provide access to quality health care in locations that are convenient to our clients,” said former executive director Roberta Geidner-Antoniotti, in announcing the plans last year.
Last week, gay D.C. Councilmember David Catania (I-At-Large) introduced a bill that would exempt Whitman-Walker from a city law requiring a “certificate of need” for opening its expanded facilities following the real estate transactions. Clinic officials have said the bill clears the Clinic from a technical requirement associated with the building of new hospitals and health facilities without demonstrating a need for them.
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