George Washington University’s on-and-off negotiations with the city over a new hospital on the east side of the District are back on again.

After a whole lot of legislative drama, the hospital will continue hammering out the details of a deal after suspending discussions two weeks ago, according to Washington Business Journal.

Part of the controversy centered around the “certificate of need,” the mandatory study that determines whether the city actually needs the new hospital beds. While the case is clear for a new hospital to replace United Medical Center in Ward 8, GW Hospital also sought to skip that step for an additional 200-bed hospital tower at its Foggy Bottom campus, too. The Foggy Bottom ANC, Howard University, and George Washington University (which is a separate entity from the hospital) spoke out against the plan, but ultimately the D.C. Council passed a bill Tuesday waiving the certificate of need for both projects.

Before a vote on a bill, D.C. councilmembers also added amendments that would have required GW Hospital to allow Howard University medical students to train at the new facility, as well as hire unionized staff from United Medical Center. After they were passed, GW Hospital suspended negotiations with the city.

The final version of the bill—the  East End Health Equity Act of 2018—significantly watered down those amendments. One requires the city to find Howard University College of Medicine an academic affiliation with any hospital in the city, and the other requires GW Hospital to hire half of the unionized workers at United Medical Center. It does not require GW Hospital to honor those employees’ collective bargaining contracts, as originally proposed.  

“We are encouraged that the District of Columbia Council has approved revised legislation for the East End Health Equity Act of 2018. This will allow us to continue negotiations with the District government with the hope of reaching a definitive agreement,” GW’s statement reads, according to WBJ. ““As always, we remain focused on providing the highest quality healthcare to the residents of Washington DC.