Washington City Paper: Contents for Jan. 4

Critical Condition
The city's cure for D.C. General's illness was to pull the plug. But the new D.C. HealthCare Alliance shows many of the same symptoms.

Cover Story

The city's cure for D.C. General's illness was to pull the plug. But the new D.C. HealthCare Alliance shows many of the same symptoms.

Around 4 p.m. one Wednesday in December, Ronald Spencer affixes his name on the emergency-room log at Greater Southeast Community Hospital. The 45-year-old reports that he's suffering from chest pains and shortness of breath.

Spencer didn't arrive by ambulance to the hospital at 1310 Southern Ave. SE, on the eastern edge of Ward 8, where grassless garden apartments, newly constructed town-house developments, and roaming Prince George's County police cruisers make the border between city and suburb almost indistinguishable. Like the majority of patients in Greater Southeast's ER this afternoon, Spencer walked in on his own.

And, like an estimated 81,000 of his fellow District of Columbia residents, Spencer has no health insurance to pay for his visit. Unemployed for nearly five years and in recovery from narcotics addiction for a little under one, he says that he supports his two teenage sons with a $355 monthly check from the government and additional help from his family. He brags that he hasn't seen a doctor since he injured his Achilles' tendon in the early '80s, but his wife and another son died from heart-related illnesses in 1994 and 1995, respectively, so Spencer decided to take these warning signs seriously. He doesn't know how he'll finance his trip to the ER, which might include a chest X-ray and an electrocardiogram totaling a few hundred dollars. ... Continued

Issue of Jan. 4 - 10, 2002

News and Features

Critical Condition
The city's cure for D.C. General's illness was to pull the plug. But the new D.C. HealthCare Alliance shows many of the same symptoms.
Cover Story By Elissa Silverman
Taking It to the Streets
Former felon Ahmad Braxton-Jones wants your vote for D.C. Council.
The City By Rion A. Scott
Herbal Remedy
D.C.'s drive for medicinal marijuana creates a rift between local activists and national anti-drug forces.
The City By Kai Wright
Character Actors
Values education invades the District's schools.
The City By Zack Phillips
Listing Badly
The Mail By Peter Vidito
Overlooking the Obvious
The Mail By Leor Galil
Fresh Paint
The Mail By Gabriel Feldman
Hot Type
The Mail By James V. Dolson
The Dog That Wouldn't Die
The Mail By Chris Heyde

Columns

The Bottle Let Him Down
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna

Eats

Movies

American Badass
Film Review By Sean Daly
Women of the Dunes
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
Impostor
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
Intimacy
Film Review By Mark Jenkins

Music

The Right Soundings
Music Review By Brent Burton
We Are the Black Wizards
Acts Locally By Brent Burton
Philadelphia Free Verse
Music Review By John Murph

Theater

Arts and Events

Land of the Loopy
From impersonating Aphex Twin to applying video-game strategy to the music business, no self-promoting scheme is too harebrained for electronica artist Justin Katz.
Arts By Felix Gillette
The Other Side of the Picture
Artifacts By Louis Jacobson
Pretty in Ink
Artifacts By Mike Kanin