Remember when we used to look at summer as “down time?” So, I’m sitting here at my desk on a hot August Friday evening wondering when it was exactly that my former view of summer passed away. I am under strict mandate from the DCPCA communication corps that I can’t leave for my long awaited summer vacation this weekend until I complete my contribution to our newsletter. So with my grumbling and grousing having no effect, I am now running through the projects that have made for a very busy summer at DCPCA.

The District of Columbia health care delivery system is one of the most revolutionary systems in the United States. It is an integrated network of hospitals, clinics, and individual physician practices financed by public and private payers. Among its most unique characteristics are the DC HealthCare Alliance and Medical Homes DC. These two programs are exclusive components of a safety net that gives low-income residents – who usually fall through the health care system crack – access to high quality primary care. District policymakers and health care stakeholders cannot stop with the successes of these two initiatives.