DC Hospital Association

Many overdose patients end up in hospital emergency rooms, but before this week in D.C., they couldn’t get treatment for their addiction. Instead, hospitals would refer patients to treatment programs outside of the hospital.

The change follows last-minute negotiations with D.C. health leaders days before the Northeast D.C. hospital was slated to shut down its ER.

D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Doug Buchanan said that a city-wide radio announcement went out Friday afternoon saying that Providence would continue accepting the city's ambulances.

Earlier this year, Providence Hospital announced it would shut down its acute-care services by December 14. Now the hospital’s emergency room will remain open through April 2019, according to the District of Columbia Hospital Association.