(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that Whitman-Walker Health signed a lease to build a state-of-the-art health center on St. Elizabeths East Campus to provide critical health care services in Congress Heights in Ward 8. The announcement was made at the Washington, DC Economic Development Partnership Annual Meeting and ECON Showcase at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
“Today’s announcement brings us closer to reaching yet another milestone in the redevelopment of the St. Elizabeths East Campus and to delivering on a promise that we would use development to provide much-needed community services to Ward 8,” said Mayor Bowser. “This new, state-of-the-art health care facility will help us ensure that Washingtonians in every corner of DC can access the services they need, right in their communities.”
The new 116,000-square-foot center will provide primary, behavioral, dental and substance misuse treatment services, expanding on the services currently provided at Whitman-Walker’s Max Robinson Center located at 2301 Martin Luther King Jr Avenue, SE. The development will also include a ground-floor pharmacy, a new home for Whitman-Walker’s Youth Services, and administrative office space for over 100 Whitman-Walker staff. This expansion will allow Whitman-Walker to go from seeing 5,000 patients and clients at the Max Robinson Center and through youth programs per year to seeing 15,000 annually at the new facility.
“This opportunity to expand our integrated care model at St. Elizabeths and improve health outcomes for all DC residents is truly a game-changer,” said Whitman-Walker Health CEO Naseema Shafi and Health System CEO Don Blanchon. “Together with the community, we will build upon our nearly four decades of service at the Max Robinson Center to offer something vital to DC residents. We are so grateful to Mayor Bowser and her administration for supporting Whitman-Walker’s mission to empower all persons to live healthy, love openly, and achieve equality and inclusion.”
Whitman-Walter Health would be the first new tenant on our St. Elizabeths East Campus, joining project deliveries such as The R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center, Gateway DC pavilion, the Entertainment and Sports Arena, home of the 2019 World Champion Washington Mystics, and the Residences at St Elizabeths East, which will welcome its first residents later this month.
“This Whitman-Walker Health Center at St. Elizabeths East Campus builds on our commitments to the Ward 8 community to put residents first when investing in economic development,” said Interim Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development John Falcicchio. “This is first of many announcements to come in the transformation of the St. Elizabeths East Campus into a true center for community and destination for entertainment.”
The Whitman-Walker building will be located on Parcel 17 at the southern edge of the campus, a vacant site that faces Alabama Avenue at Sycamore Drive, SE. Earlier this year, Mayor Bowser announced that Parcel 15, next to the new Entertainment and Sports Arena, will be transformed into a vibrant town square destination with retail, housing, and a stand-alone hotel just steps away from the Congress Heights Metro.
“We are excited to partner with our tenant Whitman-Walker on the development of the first office building at St Elizabeths. Whitman-Walker is one of the District’s most respected and beloved health care systems. This will be a great complement to the additional residential housing, retail and food amenities coming to St. Elizabeths,” said Louis Dubin, Managing Partner at Redbrick LMD, the development partner for the project.
To read more about the St. Elizabeths East Campus redevelopment, follow this link.