Coalition for a New Village Hospital

#Occupy St. Vincent’s

2011-10-24T17:25:00.001-04:00

The Coalition for a

New Village Hospital

joins #Occupy Wall Street and

Healthcare for the 99% Working Group and

Hands Off St. Vincent’sto

#Occupy St. Vincent’s

A Teach-in on the direction ofhealth care in New York and the USA and a call to restore a hospital at the siteof St. Vincent’s

Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 5:30PM

At the site of the old St. Vincent’s Hospital

7th Avenue at West 12th Street

Teach-in participants will bejoined at 6:00 PM by marchers from the

March Against the Health Insurance Industry

organized by Healthcare for the 99%

March Details:

· 4:00 PM Zuccotti Park/LibertyPlaza – Share your personal struggles with our healthcare system

4:30 PM – Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield / One Liberty Plaza: located across the street from Zuccotti Park, Empire is a subsidiary of WellPoint, the largest publicly-traded health insurance company.
5:30 PM – WellCare / 110 5th Ave: the for-profit company that administers Medicaid and Medicare Advantage programs in New York and other states. Currently being investigated for fraud with estimates that WellCare illegally siphoned $400 million to $600 million from state health insurance programs for the poor.

6:00 PM – Teach-in at St Vincent’s Hospital

Don’t allow our hospital to beturned into luxury

Condos for the 1%.

Stand Up. Fight Back. Teach In.

DNAInfo: Village Hospital Coalition Joins Occupy Wall Street Protesters

2011-10-04T10:32:00.001-04:00

From: http://www.dnainfo.com/20111003/greenwich-village-soho/village-hospital-coalition-joins-occupy-wall-street-protesters

October 3, 2011 3:18pm | By Andrea Swalec, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — The lead groupcalling for the return of a full-service hospital to Greenwich Village has thrown its support behind the Occupy Wall Streetprotesters, an attorney representing the group said.

Dozens of members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital demonstrated in lower Manhattan'sZucotti Park Sunday afternoon and brought foodto the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, coalition lawyer Yetta Kurland said.

"Those of us who are fighting for a hospital in theVillage can really relate [to the protesters]," Kurlandsaid. "We have a shared concern about lack of oversight of businessinterests."

Members of the hospital coalition will demonstrate in thepark intermittently, added Kurland, 43, a one-timeCity Council candidate.

"We have come here today with neighbors, friends andother members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital, including doctorsand nurses, to offer our support and stand in solidarity with you, and all whoare fighting to protect the public interest," the group said in astatement.

The coalition, which has more than 8,000 members, aims torestore a comprehensive hospital to the Village.

Rudin Management and North Shore-Long Island Jewish Hospital'splan to build a medical complex containing a 24-7 emergency department, full-serviceimaging center and outpatient surgery facility is currently undergoingcommunity review through the city's public land use procedure.

Eileen Dunn, a coalition member and former St. Vincent's nurse, noted in the statement that anger about theactions of corporations led her to demonstrate.

“For decades we have seen our jobs, our dignity and our healthcaresacrificed at the altar of corporate greed," she said in the statement."It is time to stand up. It is time to occupy Wall Street. It is time todemand a hospital."

DOH Public Hearing streaming Live

2011-09-22T13:20:00.002-04:00

Today's, NYS Dept. of Health, Public Health and Health Planning Council
hearing on the Rudin/North Shore-LIJ Certificate of Need can be seen streaming live at:

http://www.totalwebcasting.com/view/?id=nysdoh

Don't like what you're seeing? Sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/commissioner-new-york-state-department-of-health-deny-ns-lijs-application-for-a-certificate-of-need-project-111531.

IMPORTANT MEETING THURSDAY 9/22

2011-09-19T23:52:00.000-04:00

PUBLIC HEARING

NYS Public Health and Health Planning Council

Committee on Establishment and Project Review

Thursday, September 22, 2011, 10 AM

90 Church Street 4th Floor Rooms A/B

Prior registration (see below) and photo ID required

Re: Certificate of Need (CON) Project # 111531
This final public hearing by New York State Department of Health is held specifically to receive comments from the community about the NorthShoreLIJ/LenoxHill proposal (CON) to substitute a "free-standing emergency room" as the replacement for St. Vincents Medical and Trauma I Center at the site of the former O'Toole Clinic Building on the westside of 7th Ave and 12th. Street.**

IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT OUR COMMUNITY'S VOICE BE HEARD HERE!

To register, call Colleen Frost at (518) 402-0964 or e-mail PHHPC@health.state.ny.us and give reference CON Project # 111531

If you intend to speak, bring a copy of your statement to leave at the hearing.
Also, it would be helpful to let us know if you plan to come and have registered others, too.

COME EARLY - THIS PROJECT IS CLOSE TO TOP OF AGENDA

Speak or submit statements about why a drive by Emergency Room Without a Hospital leaves the West Side of Manhattan without a hospital from Battery Park to Columbus Circle putting every resident, employee and visitor at risk in the case of a medical emergency. )

**The Rudin group plans to demolish the former St. Vincent's east side campus on 7th Avenue and 12th Street to build 450 luxury condos (without affordable housing mix!).

Questions: Please call 212-924-5258 or 917-301-1158

Remember: Your attendance bears witness to our need for a hospital/trauma One center and you are representing those many who cannot be present at the meeting.

Community Objections to St. Vincent's Campus Redevelopment Project

2011-07-21T17:50:00.003-04:00

Below are some of the objections filed with the New York City Planning Commission in opposition to the Rudin Organization's plan to build 450 luxury condominiums at the site of the former St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan.

Included are the objections from the Coalition for a New Village Hospital, Community Board 2, and Democracy for New York City.

Community Objections to the St. Vincent's Campus Redevelopment Project

Coalition for a New Village Hospital Submits 3,500 Petition Signatures, Comments in Opposition to Rudin Condo Plan

2011-07-12T15:06:00.000-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Yetta G. Kurland, Esq.

Kurland, Bonica & Associates, P.C.

(212) 253-6911

Coalition for a New Village Hospital Submits 3,500 Petition Signatures, Comments in Opposition to Rudin Condo Plan

West Village, NY. July 12, 2011. The Coalition for a New Village Hospital submitted 3,500 signatures to the New York City Planning Commission yesterday along with an 11 page position paper in opposition to the Rudin’s plan to develop St. Vincent’s Hospital into luxury condominiums. They petition called upon the CPC to deny the Rudin Organization’s plan alleging that it would violate law, deny lower Manhattan with desperately needed health care and overtax the current infrastructure in the area with the additional 450 luxury units the plan proposes.

The petition, viewable online at: http://www.change.org/petitions/a-hospital-not-condos-for-nyc, highlights that the Rudin application “does not include a hospital. As such, it does not comply with the requirements of the 2009 LPC ‘judicial hardship’ approval. Nor does it comply with the provisions of 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code in that this sale and the proposed Rudin plan does not continue the charitable mission of SVCMC as it is required to, namely to provide a full service hospital.”

Online signatories (the majority of signatures were gathered on paper) had the opportunity to comment as well. Many of the comments spoke to resident’s personal experiences at St. Vincent’s, and more recently in the absence of a hospital.

Fred Hersch wrote: “St. Vincent's saved my life three times. It should be there for others.”

Rosemary Rowley said: “What we need is health care, not more upscale housing to burden all ready overburdened services.”

The petition was supplemented by formal comments from the Coalition for a New Village Hospital’s attorney, Yetta Kurland.

Those comments, viewable at http://demandahospital.blogspot.com/2011/07/comments-on-coalitions-petition-to-cpc.html, focus on the various land use, zoning, public health and nonprofit law deficiencies in the Rudin’s application, and called upon the City Planning Commission to reject the application.

In a statement, Ms Kurland said, “The Rudin Condo plan does not comply with the law, and it does not comply with common sense. This location is clearly well suited for hospital use – and has been for 160 years. There can be no doubt that the interests and public health of the City of New York would be irrevocably damaged if this flawed, illegal plan is permitted to proceed.”

###

Comments on the Coalition's Petition to the CPC

2011-07-12T14:59:00.002-04:00

View below the powerful comments from our community on the coalition's petition to the City Planning Commission.

Comments on CNVH Petition to NYC CPC Opposing the Rudin Condo Plan for St. Vincent's

CB2 Landmarks/St. Vincent's Meeting tonight!

2011-07-05T15:48:00.003-04:00

Community Board Two's St. Vincent's Omnibus and Landmarks committees are having a joint meeting tonight to discuss the Rudin/LIJ plan's changes to the landmarked O'Toole building. This is integral to their plan. Please attend, and ask them not to allow the Rudin's to change the exterior of the O'Toole building until they guarantee a hospital across the Street.

TONIGHT, Tues., 7/5 @ 6:30 PM– NYU Silver Building, 32 Waverly Pl. Room 208

*30 Seventh Avenue (O’Toole Building)-Application for façade changes and new entrances. For more information go to: http://bit.ly/iNUSWj

Hope to see you there. Thanks.

What happened at that City Planning Commission meeting?

2011-07-01T16:50:00.004-04:00

Well, it was a packed house, and the Coalition for a New Village Hospital spoke loud and clearly. Every speaker except one supported the Coalition position that there should be no condo development in the absence of a full service hospital.

The Coalition also delivered over 2,500 petition signatures to the CPC from community members who couldn't make the midday meeting. (Speaking of which, please join us tomorrow to get more signatures...).

It was a very encouraging meeting, and the commissioners seemed engaged. For a fantastic, thorough write-up of the meeting, check out Perry Street Palace's post.

Hospital struggle continues in the courts, and the streets…

2011-07-01T12:57:00.005-04:00

The Coalition for a New Village Hospital has not dropped it’s lawsuit

You may have read this week about a lawsuit relating to the former St. Vincent’s Hospital being dropped. The suit in question was brought by allies of the Coalition, who lacked the resources to pursue it further.

We assure you that the Coalition for a New Village Hospital has not dropped our challenges to the Rudin Condo plan in the courts, in the streets in City Hall or at the NYC Planning Commission.

In fact, at this week’s City Planning Commission scoping meeting, community members filled the halls speaking passionately in opposition to the Rudin Condo plan and of the need for a full service hospital. The tone of the discussion and the parameters of the debate were set by our voices. The Coalition delivered over 2,500 signatures on our petition to the Planning Commission, gathered in only a few days.

Please take a moment to sign the online petition now: http://www.change.org/petitions/a-hospital-not-condos-for-nyc. Or just click the petition widget to the right.

Then, join us the rest of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital

at our big street petitioning drive tomorrow

Tomorrow, Saturday, July 2, 2011

12:00 PM– 4:00 PM

Meet at Tea & Sympathy

108-110 Greenwich Avenue

between Jane and Horatio Streets (MAP)

New Petition Drive: Tell CPC to Deny Condo application

2011-06-24T18:00:00.001-04:00

The Rudin's Plan is not a done deal, and it is at a crucial phase. We need you to raise your voice as the Rudins try to sneak their condo plan by.

The Rudins have submitted their illegal plan to convert the site of the old St. Vincent’s Hospital to 450 Condominiums to the NYC City Planning Commission. The plan lacks a Certificate of Appropriateness, lacks relevant lawful permission to proceed and does not include adequate resources for the health and welfare of New York City’s population.

Tell the City Planning Commission to deny the Rudin’s Condo application by signing this online petition right now: http://www.change.org/petitions/a-hospital-not-condos-for-nyc.

Then, join the Coalition for a New Village Hospital

at our big street petitioning drive tomorrow

Tomorrow, Saturday, June 25th

11:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Meet at Tea & Sympathy

108-110 Greenwich Avenue

between Jane and Horatio Streets (MAP)

Then, next Tuesday, please join me and the Coalition as the City Planning Commission begins the review of the Rudin application. This meeting is an essential part of the ULURP, or Uniform Land Use Review Process, to rezone the site of our hospital for condo development. The Planning Commissioners have not yet heard the depth of our community’s opposition to the Rudin plan. It is vital that they begin this process with our voice.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011, 2:00PM

New York City Planning Commission,

Public Comments on Draft Scope of Work

to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement

for the Saint Vincent’s Campus Redevelopment

Spector Hall, Department of City Planning,

22 Reade Street, Between Broadway and Centre Street (MAP)

June 23rd & 28th - Two important meetings for our hospital

2011-06-22T10:24:00.005-04:00

As he Rudins and North Shore/LIJ push ahead with their plan to build 450 condominiums on the site of the old St. Vincent’s, the Coalition for a New Village Hospital needs to be present at every stage. This week there are two important meetings that we need to have a strong showing at.

Thursday, June 23^rd 6:00PM

Community Board 2, Full Board meeting

P.S. 3, 490 Hudson St. between Christopher and Grove Streets (MAP)
The public session begins at 6:00 pm. Speakers' cards will be accepted from 6:00 to 6:30 pm

This meeting will include the report from the St. Vincent’s Omnibus Committee, and discussion of CB 2 response to Draft Scope of Work for Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed St. Vincent's Campus Redevelopment Project. It is important that our community’s voice be heard.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011, 2:00PM

New York City Planning Commission,

Public Comments on Draft Scope of Work

to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement

for the Saint Vincent’s Campus Redevelopment

Spector Hall, Department of City Planning (NYCDCP),

22 Reade Street, Between Broadway and Centre Street (MAP)

The City Planning Commission is the agency responsible for “the conduct of planning relating to the orderly growth and development of the City, including adequate and appropriate resources for the housing, business, industry, transportation, distribution, recreation, culture, comfort, convenience, health and welfare of its population.” The Rudin/North Shore LIJ plan lacks a Certificate of Appropriateness, lacks relevant lawful permission to proceed does not include adequate resources for the health and welfare of New York City’s population.

This meeting is an essential part of the ULURP, or Uniform Land Use Review Process, to rezone the site of our hospital for condo development. The Planning Commissioners have not yet heard the depth of our community’s opposition to the Rudin/North Shore LIJ plan. It is vital that they begin this process with our voice.

New York Times on Emergency Room Crisis

2011-05-18T10:59:00.006-04:00

Roni Caryn Rabin at The New York Times wrote an important article today, on the dire loss of emergency rooms and services, primarily to poor, urban populations. The article, which draws heavily on a new study in in the Journal of the American Medical Association, goes into some detail on the situation at the former St. Vincent's. Coalition for a New Village Hospital steering committee member Dr. David L. Kaufman is quoted in the story on the impact these closures have on patient care.

Below are some key points, but the entire article is worth reading at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/health/18hospital.html

Fewer Emergency Rooms Available as Need Rises

By Roni Caryn Rabin,

May 17, 2011

Hospital emergency rooms, particularly those serving the urban poor, are closing at an alarming rate even as emergency visits are rising, according to a report published on Tuesday.

Urban and suburban areas have lost a quarter of their hospital emergency departments over the last 20 years, according to the study, in The Journal of the American Medical Association. In 1990, there were 2,446 hospitals with emergency departments in nonrural areas. That number dropped to 1,779 in 2009, even as the total number of emergency room visits nationwide increased by roughly 35 percent.

...

New York City lost three hospital emergency rooms in 2008, two in 2009 and two more last year, when St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan in Greenwich Village closed, followed by North General Hospital in Harlem. St. Vincent’s had handled more than 60,000 emergency visits a year, while North General’s E.R. had recorded 36,000 annual visits.

A 24-hour emergency care and ambulatory surgery center, operated by North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, is planned for Greenwich Village. Neighborhood advocates have expressed concern that the free-standing emergency room will not be able to deliver adequate care without the backing of a full-service acute-care hospital.

The new study warns of delays in emergency care that are already playing out in the community, said Dr. David L. Kaufman, a member of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital who worked at St. Vincent’s for more than 30 years. Patients who would have sought care at St. Vincent’s, he said, “take longer to get to nearby hospitals in New York City traffic. They’re waiting many, many hours to be seen and managed, and if they require admission, they have to wait another 12 to 24 hours because there are no beds.”

...

So-called safety-net hospitals that serve disproportionate numbers of Medicaid patients and hospitals serving a large share of the poor were 40 percent more likely to close.

Petition To Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman

2011-05-11T11:44:00.000-04:00

Please take a moment and sign this petition calling on our Attorney General to stop this sale and ensure safe and adequate public health for the people of the Lower West Side of Manhattan.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/New-Village-Hospital-Schneiderman/

News broke recently that St. Vincent's Hospital wasted over $25 million paying the people in charge of bankrupting the 160 year old institution instead of simply running a hospital.

In fact, according to a Crain's New York Business, St. Vincent's paid its representatives $8 million to secure a $7 million loan from the state pre-bankruptcy and then almost immediately filed bankruptcy so it didn't have to pay any of it back.

Recently, the Rudin Organization proposed a plan to turn the hospital campus into luxury condominiums. Only a small portion of one of the eight buildings would include a "stand alone" emergency room - a far cry from the hospital our community needs. This scheme violates the obligation to continue St. Vincent's charitable mission. Further, there are serious risks associated with such a facility, which would be the fist of its kind allowed in New York State.

A hospital, properly run, would bring revenues into the state and create thousands of much needed jobs. Yet despite all this, and our community's clear need of a hospital, the same bankruptcy court that allowed the scandalous payouts to St. Vincent's executives and consultants, has given the Rudin's the green light to proceed.

Thankfully there are mechanisms in place for accountability, and many hurdles yet between The Rudin Organization and their condos. The Coalition for a New Village Hospital will be at every one of these steps, demanding a hospital.

In the next step in this process, the Rudin plan must go before our New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. Luckily, Eric Schneiderman has made very clear that he supports our community's efforts for a hospital.

But he will not act if we do not ask him to. Please sign the online petition today, post it on Facebook, Tweet it, and forward it around to all you friends and neighbors.

For people who are less digitally inclined, there's a downloadable PDF of the petition below. Please print that out, gather signature, and send it to the Coalition's office at 304 Park Avenue South, Suite 206, New York, NY 10010

CNVH: Petition to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman

Consultants, Lawyers, Others Made Big Money out of St. Vincent's Demise

2011-05-10T18:13:00.003-04:00

From Crains New York Business.

Bankrupt St. Vincent's pays millions in fees

Law firms, investment banks, accountants, real estate brokers and other advisers in the shuttered hospital system's dissection have been paid about $17 million since last year's bankruptcy filing.

By Barbara Benson

Published: May 10, 2011 - 3:09 pm

The profits that eluded Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers when the hospital was alive are being realized after its death—by a small army of law firms, investment banks and advisers. Just over a year after it filed for bankruptcy protection, SVCMC has paid out about $17 million in fees to lawyers, accountants, investment bankers and real estate brokers.

Just last week, the judge overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings signed off on the latest round of fees billed by professionals working on the case. The tab: $5,460,793.

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel took in $2,706,986 for its work as bankruptcy counsel for the final quarter of 2010. The law firm voluntarily discounted its fees by 10% in recognition of St. Vincent's charitable mission. The law firm's write-offs came to more than $350,000 for the three-month period, according to court documents.

Other big earners were investment adviser Cain Brothers & Co., which netted $701,000, and law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, representing the creditors committee, which was awarded fees of $488,024. Garfunkel Wild, which also discounted its fees by at least 10%, took in $409,398. CBIZ Accounting Tax and Advisory of New York and CBIZ Inc. billed $381,621.

...

Full Story at http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110510/FREE/110519987

https://www.facebook.com/demandahospital

2011-05-03T02:15:00.000-04:00

Please become a fan of our Facebook page and share with friends: https://www.facebook.com/demandahospital

Remarks from Dr. David L. Kaufman at the Rally to Demand a Hospital

2011-05-02T18:04:00.002-04:00

Remarks from Dr. David L. Kaufman at the Rally to Demand a Hospital

West Village, New York City, April 30, 2011.

Well here we are again, this time to sadly honor this one year anniversary. Luckily it’s a gorgeous day---very reassuring to know that the Bankruptcy Court and the Rudins can’t also control the weather. They can’t “fix” that…

What I want to talk about today will be lots of numbers, numbers that can rule and ruin our lives. And I want to emphasize that every statistic I give comes from the US Census, the NYS DOH or NSLIJ. These facts can tell many stories, and numbers can have great but simple power and speak the clear truth. So stay with me and I’ll try not to go too fast. Oh, and there will be a quiz on the numbers at the end.

365 days ago Greenwich Village and the entire Lower Westside was plunged into a health crisis. For 52 weeks we have had no easily accessible emergency services, trauma services, hospital beds, none of the broad range of medical, surgical, psychiatric, and ambulatory services that St. Vincent’s provided to all in need. Over the last 12 months, the 61,394 people previously cared for in the St. Vincent’s Emergency Room have had to travel through traffic one to five miles in trips lasting twenty to sixty minutes to get emergency services where they have been forced to wait on average over five hours before being seen and then, if admitted, often wait another 12-24 hours for a bed to become available. How many people never made it to an ER? How many suffered in pain while waiting for care? How many had more damage to their hearts or brains because of delays in transport, triage, and management? How many died?

Last year, 70% of the patients admitted to St. Vincent’s Hospital came from the Emergency Department. Let me crystal clear here: that means in 2009, an incredible 13,572 people were so sick, so acutely ill that they required IMMEDIATE admission for treatment of their heart attacks, strokes, pneumonias, perforated organs, injuries, etc. What has happened to those 13,572 patients over the last 52 weeks? Does anyone really know?

In 2009, St. Vincent’s hospital admitted a total of 19,388 patients. In 2009, St. Vincent’s Hospital had an average daily census of 340 patients. That means 340 people from our community were sick enough to be hospitalized every single day of the year. Where have all those patients gone? How far have they had to travel, how badly has their care been delayed and disrupted?

Of course, the NYS Dept Of Health, the NSLIJ hospital system, the Rudin Organization, our elected politicians—Cuomo, Bloomberg, Duane, Gottfried, Quinn and the rest—our elected leaders supposedly responsible for our community’s health and welfare---of course THEY don’t have any of those answers. Suddenly their statistics machine is broken, their multimillion dollar PR operations are eerily silent. No answers. Nothing. What has happened to the concept of holding officials, be they appointed, elected, corporate or non-profit, responsible and accountable?

Instead of answers, our community has been supremely insulted. These people are offering us an urgent care center, a doc in the box on steroids, a turbocharged clinic. They further insult us by calling it an Emergency Room. And then, talking to us like we are ill mannered children, they insist we are lucky to even get this, that it’s better than nothing. I will not, again, go through all the reasons they are wrong, all the ways they are deceiving us and all the life threatening risks of their generous offer. Read the flyers, read Westview, and then think about this: can their Comprehensive Care Center, their free standing emergency room treat 61,394 people a year, can it house 19,388 patients sick enough to require inpatient care, can it deliver the life saving, critical care that 13,572 poor souls required in the emergency room in 2009. These are not rhetorical questions, these are not melodramatic questions-no, no, these are life and death questions and the lack of answers, the utter disregard of these facts puts my life and yours in danger every day.

OK, time to move on to a different set of numbers. Are you ready? OK, here we go. According to the data collected by NSLIJ, the Lower Westside and the so called primary service area of St. Vincent’s hospital has a population of 385, 000 and the hospital had about 380 operational beds. 385,000—I want you to remember that number and also keep in mind that it does not even include the estimated 500,000 additional commuters and tourists that come to the Lower Westside every day. 385,000.

Now, we going to take five mile trip to the Upper East Side and East Harlem, an area geographically defined by the Harlem River to the North, the East River, south to 59^th street and west to 5^th Ave. The population of those two communities totals 325,286 people, 60,000 people less than ours. What do all those people do for healthcare—what are the hospital and Emergency Room resources in their community? Hold onto your hats and try not to faint as I read you these statistics:

· NY Presbyterian Cornell Weill Hospital –867 beds and full service emergency room

· Mt. Sinai Hospital—1171 beds and a full service emergency room

· Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center—437 beds and a full service emergency room

· Metropolitan Hospital—341 beds and –you guessed it—a full service emergency room

· Hospital for Special Surgery –172 beds and limited emergency services

· And finally, last but certainly not least, we have Lenox Hill Hospital, NSLIJ’s latest acquisition with 652 beds and another full service emergency room

Can anyone guess how many beds that adds up to? Are you ready? 3,940. Yup, that’s 3,940 beds for 325,286 people or one bed per 82 persons. Oh, and I almost forgot, FIVE full service emergency rooms with all the bells and whistles, all the medical and surgical backup required to do the job right.

What do we have? NOTHING. We have zero beds for 385,000 people or close to a million if you include the commuters and tourists. I want to make sure you all got that: it’s zero bed per 385,000 as compared to one bed per 82. In some circles, that would be called criminal policy and planning. I suspect most third world countries have better bed ratios than zero per 385,000.

So what can be done? We are up against a government mindset that insists New York State has too many hospital beds, that the only way to solve our financial healthcare problems is to close beds and hospitals. Let’s just assume that the DOH and the so called healthcare experts are correct. How do they implement this decision, how do they get rid of beds? It’s a fair question and one would think that experts like these would approach the challenge rationally and carefully. But, the utterly astonishing fact is, they do not. They give no thought to the distribution of beds—all they care about is shutting them down. Community needs, bed per person ratios, socio-economic issues are all irrelevant. How else explain the behavior of a our city and state officials, of that guardian of your health and mine, the DOH, -- how else explain their decision to leave all 385,000 of us with NO hospital, NO Emergency Room, No critical services, while five miles north of here there are 4000 beds for 60,000 less people? Incredible and shameful.

So here is my proposal. Let’s get rational, let’s act responsibly, let’s plan intelligently, and let’s all work together—our community, the Rudins, NSLIJ, our elected and appointed officials—let’s solve this absurd situation so that everyone wins. NSLIJ has taken over Lenox Hill Hospital in a community that, as I have just described, is practically drowning in beds. The DOH would be absolutely correct in stating that the Upper East Side is way overbedded, that the situation is not financially sensible or sustainable. And Lenox Hill, even with the marketing might and deep pockets of NSLIJ, will be hard pressed to compete with the likes of Sinai, Sloan, Hospital for Special Surgery, and NY Hospital. But, hey look around you—behind me is a huge empty hospital campus, across the street is another 160,000 sq ft of empty space, and all around me are 385,000 patients—customers—with no hospital, no services, and we are desperate for help.

So-I say to NSLIJ, come on down.

Move the entire Lenox Hill Hospital downtown. Bring the doctors, bring the nurses, the support staff, the beds, the fancy equipment, bring it all, and we will fill your beds. We’ll even be getting a lot of our great St. Vincent’s docs back since Lenox Hill recruited so many of them. And in exchange, let the Rudins move uptown to build their condos. Talk about prime real estate---we’re talking 76^th and Park Ave, doesn’t get much better than that. And if NSLIJ doesn’t need the entire St. Vincent’s campus, well, they can throw the Rudins a building or two to develop down here. Just think about it---at a minimum it’s bed neutral but they could probably do it with 400 beds, so we actually close another 250 beds—hooray. I’m not a banker or a mogul, but I suspect the dollars work to everyone’s benefit. And nobody loses their job, businesses would reopen in this ghost town, and we, the people, get our healthcare crisis resolved with the opening of new world class, full service hospital and emergency room. Think of the good will generated, think of the fund raising opportunities, imagine the restoration of healthcare for 385,000 people. Everybody wins, nobody loses.

Let’s all work together to create the new World Trade Center Memorial Hospital.

The Westside Healthcare Coalition is a Lie

2011-04-11T23:53:00.007-04:00

Lower West Side residents have been receiving some interesting astroturf in their mailboxes lately. It's from a group called The "Westside Healthcare Coalition". Trouble is, they don't exist. They're just a front for the real estate developers that want to build luxury condos where we need a hospital.

Don't fall for it.

West Side Healthcare Coalition is a Lie

Statement on Today's Court Decision

2011-04-07T18:45:00.004-04:00

Statement from the
Coalition for a New Village Hospital's attorney Yetta Kurland

We were disappointed, but not surprised by today's Court decision. While we disagree with the Court's determination, this is just the first of a number of hurdles that the Rudins will have to overcome to purchase and develop the St. Vincent's campus.The Coalition for a New Village Hospital stays principled in our stand and unwavering in our position that this community requires nothing less than a full service hospital. We will continue to unite the community toward that objective. Our April 30th rally will be a testament to the community's desire for a hospital. At the same time, we are prepared to work wiith Rudin Management and North Shore-LIJ to achieve that goal.

Delay Approval of the Rudin, North Shore LIJ Condo Deal

2011-04-07T14:11:00.002-04:00

For: The Coalition For A New Village Hospital

Media Contact: Steven Greene

For Immediate Release

Delay Approval of the Rudin, North Shore LIJ Condo Deal

New York, NY – April 7, 2011 – The Coalition for A New Village Hospital called on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court today to delay approval of the proposed sale of former St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center site to RSV LLC, an affiliate of Rudin Management.

Said Yetta Kurland of the 7,000 member Coalition, “While recent court decisions prevent us from filing objections to the proposed sale of the St. Vincent’s property to the Rudin Management Company, we stand firm in our conviction that this community is in urgent need of a full-service emergency room and in-patient hospital. The current plan offered by Rudin Management and North Shore-LIJ falls far short of that goal. “

On April 6, The Southern District Court reaffirmed the Bankruptcy Court’s decision to bar attorneys for the Coalition from “taking any actions and otherwise proceeding in furtherance of or in connection with” related to the allegations in their earlier state court action.

Said Dr. David Kaufman, “We are fully prepared to work with Rudin Management and North Shore-LIJ Group or any other qualified buyer toward the realization of a hospital. If necessary, it would be in the best interests of the community and the creditors to re-open bidding to additional qualified buyers committed to a new hospital.”

On March 10, the Rudin Management firm announced they had partnered with North Shore-LIJ to with plans to build a walk-in emergency facility and hundreds of luxury apartments in place of the full service in-patient hospital. Community members have protested the plans citing a number of health concerns and efforts by other jurisdictions that already offer free standing emergency rooms to introduce legislation banning them because of these concerns as well as exorbitant costs associated such facilities.

###

WARNING! The North Shore-LIJ “Emergency Department” Plan May Be Hazardous To Your Health

2011-04-05T14:03:00.004-04:00

For: The Coalition For A New Village Hospital

Media Contact: Steven Greene

For Immediate Release

WARNING! The North Shore-LIJ “Emergency Department” Plan May Be Hazardous To Your Health

10 Ways North Shore-LIJ Gets It Wrong

1. The North Shore-LIJ “Emergency Department”may be dangerous to your health. The trip you take to an urgent care center can cost you vital minutes that make the difference between life and death. The chances of surviving a cardiac arrest declines by approximately 10% for each minute without defibrillation. At the new North Shore-LIJ urgent care center, it may be hours before examinations, blood tests and electrocardiograms reveal an acute heart attack. Whether the ambulance trip that follows is to Beth Israel Hospital or more than 4 miles to Lenox Hill, it would be too late for the emergency intervention available at a hospital. At the end of the day, their proposed “Emergency Department” is a lot like a “doc-in-the-box” urgent care center.

2. Free Standing “Emergency Departments” like the one planned by North Shore-LIJ can actually drive up medical costs. While they claim freestanding emergency rooms are less expensive to operate, there is growing evidence that they actually increase costs as the quality of healthcare declines. In states like Washington the legislature is considering putting a moratorium on using these facilities after seeing costs skyrocket.

3. You can’t take an ambulance there. How can it be a true Emergency Room if it doesn’t have ambulance services? Without large changes in laws and regulations, these types of facilities will not have ambulance service to bring in a patient. The reason: The managers of the 911 emergency system does not believe these independent ambulances are equipped to treat emergencies. To make the changes North Shore-LIJ is requesting will mean a ”freelance” ambulance system that operates separate and apart from the life-saving 911 system.

4. Emergency medical technicians will be forced to make decisions about what type of treatment you will receive before you see a doctor. If a patient calls 911, medics are going to have to make critical life decisions without the guidance of a medical doctor. If these medics are rushing patients to an “emergency room” unprepared for life-threatening emergencies, patients’ lives will be at risk.

5. It is an unregulated facility where patients without coverage can be turned away. Unlike hospital emergency departments that are obliged to accept all patients regardless of their ability to pay, private centers like the one planned by North Shore-LIJ, are legally allowed to turn away patients who have trouble paying for treatment. What’s more, they are not even required to hire union employees.

6. It will be in their interests to transfer you miles away to Lenox Hill. An emergency room helps cover its costs by admitting patients to the hospital. ERs are the major source of new admissions. It is widely understood that a “stand alone ER” like this one acts as a “feeder” to get patients. That would mean that assuming you did actually need care you wouldn’t receive it in your neighbourhood, but would be transferred by ambulance to North Shore-LIJ’s one and only NYC medical center, Lenox Hill Hospital, which is crosstown, and 4.09 miles away.

7. The emergency care they can’t provide is the care that matters most. NSLIJ claim this new “Emergency Department” will provide 95% of the care available at St. Vincent’s former ER. Importantly, that figure does not include the most important reasons patients rush to an emergency room -- acute stroke, heart attack, trauma, septic shock, respiratory failure, and other emergency events including those suffered by first responders from the World Trade Center.

8. This new Emergency Department” will treat 40% fewer patients annually in a community that’s doubled in size. Despite a doubling in the size of the community, the new center will treat only 35,000 patients per year versus 60,000 treated annually at the former St. Vincent’s.

9. Contrary to claims, St. Vincent’s was used by the majority of the community until the day it closed. In fact, St. Vincent's treated 55% of the local community in 2009, its last full year of operation, according to New York State data. This was true even while rumors were growing that the hospital would soon close.

10. A new hospital can be built at a fraction of the cost While NSLIJ claims building a new hospital could cost $2 million/bed, a global firm of engineers has estimated the cost of reinstating a hospital in the current Colman building at a fraction of the cost, and close to the cost as the\is proposed freestanding urgent care center.

###

Winners and Losers

2011-03-31T14:27:00.002-04:00

Winners and Losers in the Battle for Healthcare on the Lower West Side

Doctors Forced to Leave St. Vincent's Hospital

2011-03-29T15:40:00.001-04:00

DNAInfo's Ben Fractenberg reports:

Doctors Forced to Leave St. Vincent's Hospital Site

March 28, 2011

WEST VILLAGE — The fate of an urgent care center set to take over the former St. Vincent's Hospital site is still in flux, but the shuttered hospital has already taken steps to force out dozens of doctors who still retain offices at the former medical facility.

Doctors with private practices in the O'Toole Building at Seventh Avenue and West 12th Street were stunned to receive letters from St. Vincent's warning them that their leases were suspended and that they would have to vacate the premises by the end of May, DNAinfo has learned.

The letters were dated March 10, the same day the hospital announced it was selling to North Shore-LIJ.

"Please note that we will be required to take action in the Bankruptcy Court to assure that you timely vacate the Unit absent your cooperation, so please provide us with advance notice of your expected departure date," the letter warns.

Doctors blasted the sudden eviction. ...

Full Story

Update from Attorney Yetta Kurland: Moving Forward

2011-03-25T12:57:00.004-04:00

Dear Friends,

News came out earlier this month that a deal had been made, between the Rudin development organization and the remnants of St. Vincent’s Medical Center, for Rudin to purchase the old St. Vincent’s hospital for use as a condominium site, with a section to be set aside for an urgent care center.

The Coalition for a New Village Hospital stays principled in our fight for a hospital and unwavering in our position that the community needs nothing less than a full service level 1 trauma care hospital. But we see this proposal as an opportunity in that fight, and here’s why.

As New Yorkers we know that, where there’s a will, there’s a way. The defeat of the Westside Stadium, the success of Grand Central Station, and Central Park are monuments to our will as New Yorkers. There are others.

Yesterday evening, The Wall Street Journal reported that a potential buyer is seeking to block the Rudin sale in bankruptcy so it can build a full service hospital at the St. Vincent’s site.

Here on the Lower West Side, we have known since the wrongful closure of St. Vincent’s Hospital that there is a strong will among the residents of our community to have a new hospital to replace the one that was taken away from us. All of these recent developments are an acknowledgment of that will. There will be a medical facility at Seventh Avenue and 12th Street. This is the start of what can be a victory for all of us in our fight.

There remains however the critical question of what kind of a medical facility it will be.

We have been working on the political front to make clear to the Rudins, and to our elected officials, that if the Rudins and LIJ can get the building for free, and raise an additional $125 million, as they acknowledge, to build a brand new urgent care center, they can, for the same or similar cost, renovate the Coleman building to create a hospital.

We have been fighting on the legal front to force St. Vincent’s to be more transparent in their dealings, including their financials, for the New York State Department of Health to honor its responsibility to provide adequate healthcare for our community, for the Bankruptcy Court to recognize our right as members of the public for health care, and for our public officials to hold those responsible for this health crisis accountable and restore the vital resources our community needs.

To that end, I want to invite you to come on April 1st at 2pm in U.S. Southern District Court which is located at 500 Pearl Street, Room 14B (MAP) to watch oral arguments in our fight to allow the Coalition access to public records regarding the closure of St. Vincent’s hospital.

Also on April 7th at 11:00am the bankruptcy court at 1 Bowling Green, Room 701 (MAP) will hold a hearing on the request to approve the sale of the property to the Rudins. It is the Coalition’s position that such a sale would be a violation of New York State Non-Profit Corporation laws and U.S. Internal Revenue Code, both of which the bankruptcy court must recognize. In specific, a public asset, including the not for profit St. Vincent’s, cannot transfer assets to a private entity, like the Rudins, and a transfer like that proposed must continue the charitable mission of St. Vincent’s Hospital, which clearly luxury condominium units do not. You can read the letter we sent to the bankruptcy court regarding this here.

It has been and it remains the will of our people that this facility be a hospital, a real hospital -- with an emergency room, fully equipped to handle the cases that will come through its doors, with the inpatient rooms that will continue the care once the crisis has been met, and with the special services and departments that a community such as ours would require.

Built into the Rudin/St.Vincent’s/Long Island Jewish deal is the wherewithal to bring into being a New Village Hospital. If an “urgent care center” can be built, then a hospital can be built on the old site. Given the amount of money available from Federal and State funds to operate a hospital, over and above what would be available to operate an “urgent care center,” the economics of going the hospital route make more sense. Again, as always, it is a question of the will to do it.

It is now up to us as a community to transfer our will into a reality by making clear, to all the actors in this process, that we will not go away until we get what we need and deserve, a hospital.

To that end, please mark your calendars. April 30th. That’s the date when we will commemorate the one year anniversary of the wrongful closing of St. Vincent’s and redouble our efforts and resolve to demand a hospital for our community. Please download this flyer to put in your building, community center or school to let folks know. There will be a planning meeting for the rally on Wednesday March 30th at 6pm at the Church of the Village located on the corner of 7th Avenue and 13th Street (7th Ave entrance - MAP) and a fundraiser on Monday March 28th (see below or buy tickets here) at Fiddlesticks on Greenwich between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue (MAP).

Be there. Look for me. I’ll be looking for you.

In solidarity and towards a new village hospital,

Yetta Kurland

Coalition for a New Village Hospital: One Year Rally Poster

3-22 letter in re St. Vincent's

Happy Hour for St. Vincent's this Monday!

2011-03-23T18:24:00.005-04:00

You are cordially invited to attend a happy hour fundraiser for the

COALITION FOR A NEW VILLAGE HOSPITAL

MONDAY, March 28 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm
at Fiddlesticks Pub & Grill

56 Greenwich Avenue (at Perry Street)

Tickets are $25 at the door - or you can buy online at http://cnvh.eventbrite.com. There are a limited number of tickets available for only $10, so buy now!

Please join us and help the Coalition for a New Village Hospital

continue to fight in the courts, in the streets and in City Hall

for the full service, 24-hour, level one trauma ER Hospital

at the site of the former St. Vincent's

the lower West Side needs.

Thank you.

Rally April 30

2011-03-13T13:41:00.005-04:00

Rally to Demand a Hospital

April 30th
2:00 PM
at the old St. Vincent's site at
7th Avenue and West 12th Street

One year after the illegal closing of St. Vincent's Hopsital and one month after the real estate moguls announced their plan, join the Coalition for a New Village Hospital for a mass rally.

Let the real estate interests and our elected officials know that we will not accept anything short of a full-service, acute care hospital with level one emergency facilities.

February 16th: A Year of Loss & Hope

2011-02-13T12:58:00.005-05:00

A Year of Loss & Hope:

Time for Action!

An update on the fight for health care

on the Lower West Side

Please Join Us for a Panel Discussion:

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 16^th

6-8 PM @ HUDSON GUILD

9^th Avenue btwn 17^th & 18^thStreets

· What are our next steps as a community?

· How can we win the long fight for a full-service hospital?

St. Vincent's Certificate of Operations

2010-11-24T18:48:00.002-05:00

Here is St. Vincent's Certificate of Operations issued by the New York State Dept. of Health.

Effective date: May 22, 2009
Expiration Date: NONE

Why do we need to reassess a need that was determined 18 months ago?

Certificate of Operation

A Community Unites...

2010-11-23T00:56:00.005-05:00

From "A Community Unites", a great photo essay about the 100 Days rally by Sarah Bures at The New School Free Press. See the full essay here.

Planning Meeting Tomorrow!

2010-11-03T17:16:00.001-04:00

COALITION FOR A NEW VILLAGE HOSPITAL

Invites you to attend a Planning Meeting Tomorrow:

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH AT 6:00 PM

OUR LADY OF POMPEII CHURCH (downstairs auditorium)

Corner of Bleecker and Carmine Streets

We will be discussing next steps after last month’s rally, report on the legal fight, and the needs assessment currently being done. Come join, ask questions and get involved!

Tomorrow's Needs Assessment Meeting Moved to Undisclosed Location

2010-10-27T01:09:00.001-04:00

We are disappointed to say that the Needs Assessment meeting that was scheduled for tomorrow at 1pm at Congressmember Nadler’s office has been relocated and we have not been given the new address. We have also been told that this is a private meeting.

The Coalition for a New Village Hospital has made clear that our position has been and continues to be that a needs assessment undercuts the rights we currently have under the law to a continuation of services which stems from the open Certificate of Operations that is still in effect at the site of St. Vincent’s.

Having said that however, given the fact that those in charge have decided to initiate a needs assessment rather than pursue more direct efforts to get services restored at the site of St. Vincent’s, it becomes vital that the community be central in how this happens and why this happens.

We must ensure that this needs assessment is not another back room deal where the real estate interests or other private interests determine the landscape of public health care, rather than public need determining public health care.

Public input must not be an afterthought at the end of the process but the driving force in this process.

The Coalition had invited community members to attend the Needs Assessment Meeting being convened for the purpose of deciding how health care happens in lower Manhattan because we do not want this committee to turn into what happened with the Governor’s Task Force in which a small group of elected officials met without public input and the true information still missing about the financial reality and the problems with St. Vincent’s were not addressed in time.

While we will be unable to attend tomorrow’s meeting we have asked for a clear statement from this group about their process, and when the public will be allowed to participate and in what ways. We will also continue to attempt to engage this group and our elected and public officials in efforts to ensure the Coalition and the community is properly represented in the decisions regarding health care.

St. Vincent's Hospital Rally - Yetta Kurland's Speech - 17 Oct 2010 - NYC

2010-10-26T23:51:00.004-04:00

Well over 1,000 turn up to support a New Village Hospital

2010-10-17T22:34:00.002-04:00

Rally TODAY: 100 Days Without a Hospital

2010-10-17T11:10:00.006-04:00

Come one, come all!

Join the Coalition for a New Village Hospital tomorrow for

100 Days Without a Hospital Rally,
TODAY, Sunday October 17th
2 PM
West 12th St. and 7th Avenue

If there remained any doubt as to the need for a New Village Hospital, Ruth Ford and Adrienne Day's must read article in City Lights dispelled it.

Can't make it today? Here's what you can do:

RALLY_10_17_10_v3_Flyer

100 Days Without a Hospital

2010-10-08T17:20:00.000-04:00

VIDEO: St Vincent's Hospital - Oct. 17 rally - A matter of village preservation

2010-10-03T15:46:00.004-04:00

RSVP at our Facebook event!

Oct. 17 rally for a new hospital - St. Vincent's Hospital - Call to Action

2010-09-26T19:06:00.005-04:00

Please join us on October 17th at the 100 Days without a Hospital Rally in front of the old St. Vincent's site.

Bleow is a video produced by Coalition for a New Village Hospital member Louis Flores.

Coalition Legal Team Argues Case

2010-09-26T14:10:00.006-04:00

The CNVH legal team made oral arguments on Friday on our appeal of the US Bankruptcy Court decision in May. This decision denied us the right even to have our case heard. Our appeal on Friday would allow us to press our suit to compel the New York State Department of Health to continue the services provided at St. Vincent's.

It was a great opportunity to make our case for why adequate health care is a fundamental right for all New Yorkers and public health institutions cannot just collapse in a matter of days without consequence.

Below is a picture of our legal team. All of them having been working tirelessly - without a penny of pay - for months.

Please thank them for their incredible work and effort, by joining us at the '100 Days Without A Hospital' Rally on Sunday October 17th at 2pm. Below is a link to a flyer to pass around. We have already confirmed a number of organizations and celebrity Michelle Clunie from Showtime's Queer as Folk. Please let us know too if your organization would like to join.

RALLY: 100 DAYS WITHOUT A HOSPITAL

2010-09-22T19:00:00.005-04:00

100days_11x17spnsrs4cOP

Please print out the above flyer and let your neighbors know about this important rally. You can download an 11" X 17" poster here.

Another Attorney General Candidate Backs Hospital

2010-08-20T23:11:00.004-04:00

Another candidate for New York State Attorney General came out in strong support of a hospital for the lower West Side today.

State Senator Eric Schneiderman (D - Manhattan, Bronx) issued the following statement:

"The closure of St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center was a tragic blow for Greenwich Village, Chelsea and the entire West Side of Manhattan. Unless a 24-hour acute care hospital with an emergency room opens in this neighborhood, entire communities of New Yorkers will go without the adequate health services they deserve.

"Moreover, recent allegations about the financial management of St. Vincent's Hospital, while it was still in operation, have raised serious and troubling questions that demand answers.

"The bottom line is: the west side of Manhattan both deserves and needs an acute care hospital with an emergency room. Anything and everything should be done to make certain that becomes a reality."

The Coalition for a New Village Hospital welcomes Mr. Schneiderman's bold support for our community's health.

Attorney General Candidate Backs Hospital, Coalition

2010-08-19T21:10:00.005-04:00

Coalition for a New Village Hospital’s outreach scored a big win today as Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, a Democratic candidate for NY Attorney General, issued a bold statement of support.

We’ve reached out to all the candidates for Attorney General and Governor, and are expecting to hear from more in the next few days.

Former St. Vincent’s Hospital Employees and Lower West Side Community Welcomes Statement of Public Support From Attorney General Candidate Kathleen Rice

New York, NY – August 19th, 2010 6 pm-– Yetta Kurland of Kurland, Bonica & Associates, P.C. a member of The Coalition For A New Village Hospital, the community organization that filed suit against the NYS Department of Health on Monday August 16^th, responded to a clear statement of support today from Attorney General Candidate Kathleen Rice.

In a statement issued today, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, announced, “As the next Attorney General, I will work with community advocates and Department of Health to help facilitate the return of a hospital to serve the people of the Lower West Side."

In making the statement, Rice became one of the first State officials to support the Coalition’s goals.

Said Kurland, “We welcome this powerful support from District Attorney Rice and her commitment to returning a vitally needed hospital and Level One Trauma Center to the Lower West Side Community. This closure has left hundreds of thousands without vital medical care and has thrown our community into a health crisis. We look forward to working closely with Nassau’s District Attorney Kathleen Rice in realizing our goal, and look forward to the support emerging from leaders throughout the State.”

On August 16th, the attorneys petitioned Manhattan Supreme Court to obtain information concerning the closure plan of St. Vincent’s Hospital. "It is our hope that the information we are able to secure in this action will help in realizing the return of a hospital to the community,” said Kurland. The Article 78 proceeding will be heard on September 8, 2010 in NYS Supreme Court by Judge O. Peter Sherwood.

"This community needs a hospital and deserves the truth. Today’s announcement of support from Kathleen Rice opens the door to a new, positive conversation, and we look forward to sitting down with local leaders to hear their views” said Eileen Dunn, RN, and a founding member of the Coalition.

###

Judge Sets Hearing and Orders Dept. of Health to Show Cause!

2010-08-16T19:46:00.004-04:00

In a preliminary success for the Coalition for a New Village Hospital's Article 78 Lawsuit, Hon. O. Peter Sherwood of New York Supreme Court signed an order to show cause today, and set a hearing date for September 8th at which the NYS Dept. of Health must defend it's decision to keep public records secret.

Coalition Files Suit to Demand Release of Documents

2010-08-16T19:45:00.002-04:00

The Coalition for a New Village Hospital filed suit in New York County Supreme Court today to demand release of documents kept secret by the New York State Dept. of Health. The suit, filed by attorneys Yetta Kurland and Thomas Shanahan on behalf of the Coalition, seeks to compel the Dept. of Health to release the hospital closure plans, transfer plans and all related documents.

While the documents are public records, the Dept. has steadfastly refused to release them despite a Freedom of Information Law request and numerous other inquiries. Today's Article 78 proceeding asks the court to order their release. Included in these documents will be details of any plans to transfer the St. Vincent's site to other hospital providers - and importantly why these attempts were quashed by Health Commissioner Richard Daines.

Here's civil rights attorney Yetta Kurland discussing the suit this morning.

Included in the complaint are IRS documents showing alleged mismanagement, high executive salaries and rampant waste by St. Vincent's management prior to the closure. Executive salaries remained sky-high as doctors, nurses and patients were asked to sacrifice.

Here are the documents filed today:

Coalition for a New Village Hospital: Article 78 Action Part 1

Coalition for a New Village Hospital: Article 78 Action Part 2

The coalition also held a press conference in conjunction with today's filing, which was reported on by The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, New York 1 (with Video), and others. In addition to Kurland and Shanahan, Coalition members Eileen Dunn RN, District Leaders Paul Newell and Jean Grillo, activist Miguel Acevedo and Noah Pfefferblit of Community Board 1 spoke in favor of the law suit.

NY Post Reports on Gross Mismanagement at St. Vincent's

2010-08-16T19:37:00.002-04:00

The New York Post's Brad Hamilton broke a big story last night about executive mismanagement at St. Vincent's in the run-up to its closure.

Here's a taste:

'Doctored' books

Brass looted St. Vincent's for millions: foes

St. Vincent's Hospital was looted by execs and consultants in the two years before it closed, then grossly exaggerated its debt, according to blockbuster papers set to be filed tomorrow in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The filing, a petition that seeks to force the state Health Department to turn over documents on the closing, says the defunct medical center blew through millions in "highly questionable" expenses, including $278,000 for a golf outing, while paying its top 10 executives a combined $10 million a year.

It also shelled out $17 million for "management consultants," $3.8 million on "professional fund-raising" and a staggering $104 million on unspecified costs it listed simply as "other" on its federal tax returns, the petition says.

Community Board 1 Joins the Fight!

2010-08-03T18:23:00.005-04:00

Manhattan's Community Board 1 joined their neighbor CB2 and The Coalition for a New Village Hospital in calling for a "land lock" on the old St. Vincent's site. Board Chair Julie Menin commended the Coalition's work to a packed meeting. Coalition members Yetta Kurland, Paul Newell and Jonathan Slaff all spoke to the Board.

As more and more community groups sign on to CNVH's mission, the tide on this issue is beginning to turn. CB1 passed the resolution unanimously on July 27th.

Manhattan Community Board 1 Resolution on St. Vincent's

DNA Info Covers Coalition's Community Outreach

2010-08-03T17:35:00.003-04:00

Tara Kyle at DNA Info had a great story yesterday about Coalition for a New Village Hospital's Fundraising Committee Chair, Jonathan Slaff.

Slaff, who has also been blogging the Coalition's efforts, is a longtime Village resident, and an important part of the team.

Read the full story here: http://www.dnainfo.com/20100802/greenwich-village-soho/new-group-collecting-tales-of-medical-trauma-after-st-vincents-closure

2010-08-03T17:24:00.004-04:00

COMMUNITY MEMBERS FILE APPEAL TO DEMAND THAT NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH INVESTIGATE CLOSURE

OF ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL AND ENSURE NEW HOSPITAL AT THE SITE

Attorneys for community members of the West Village and Chelsea filed an appeal on Jul 19, 2010 to challenge the Bankruptcy Court's decision to deny community members the right to file suit against the Department of Health for allowing St. Vincent's Hospital to wrongfully close and for not ensuring a hospital replaced the 160 year medical institution. The Bankruptcy Judge claimed the suit would unfairly impact the distribution of assets to the creditors deciding it would "exercise control" over the assets.

Yetta Kurland, one of the attorneys representing the community members stated "This is not just about our fundamental right to health care, it is also about our fundamental right to due process. The Department of Health has an affirmative statutory obligation to ensure hospitals are closed properly. That means that the public needs to be properly protected in that process, which it was not here. It also means that the DOH has to ensure a continuation of the same services and ensure that this is place before it allows a hospital to close.

"But the Bankruptcy Court Judge told us that we could not proceed with our claim in New York State Court, not because we didn't have grounds, but because she wanted to retain jurisdiction on all matters related to the closure. But then she turned around and told us that we couldn't bring this lawsuit in Bankruptcy Court because we weren't a debtor or a creditor and because it might adversely impact the creditors' assets. This is not about assets, this is about people's lives. It begs the question; where do we go for relief when our state agencies are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. We believe the decision violates due process, New York State health laws and the New York State constitution."

Here's a full copy of the appeal

Coalition for a New Village Hospital Appellant Brief

COMMUNITY BOARD 2 PASSES RESOLUTION CALLING FOR A HOSPITAL AT THE SITE OF ST. VINCENT'S AND A LOCK ON LAND TO ENSURE IT

2010-08-03T17:18:00.003-04:00

COMMUNITY BOARD 2 PASSES RESOLUTION CALLING FOR A HOSPITAL AT THE SITE OF ST. VINCENT'S AND A LOCK ON LAND TO ENSURE IT

West Village, New York. July 27, 2010. Over one hundred members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital came out to the Community Board 2 Full Board Meeting at Elizabeth Irwin High School on Thursday July 22nd to demand a resolution that would protect land use at the St. Vincent's Hospital Campus to ensure it is used for a hospital.

After hours of testimony, in a showing of solidarity with the community, the Board passed a resolution calling on elected officials and the Bankruptcy Court to protect the existing land use by opposing any changes to the zoning, use and occupancy or any other law that would eliminate hospital use at the site. The board also called on the Bankruptcy Court to set up a Community Council, with the aid of the New York City Corporation Counsel, to represent the community in the Bankruptcy Court's procedures.

Yetta Kurland, a civil rights attorney and member of the Coalition stated "This is an incredible victory for our Community. Thanks to the courage and leadership of many Community Board members and the continued hard work of so many who have been fighting since the hospital closed on April 30th, we now have a resolution that our elected officials must listen to. We will settle for nothing less than a hospital at the St. Vincent's site."

The strong language that "opposes all changes in land use" was not initially on the agenda for the meeting. But after hearing testimony from members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital and other community members speaking in favor of a land lock, the Board changed course and demanded that the resolution be amended to include such language. Arthur Schwartz, a civil rights attorney and member of Community Board 2 negotiated the language for the amendment to the resolution which was passed by a vote of 29 for and only 6 opposed.

Another Coalition member and St. Vincent's Physician, David Kaufman, MD stated "The hundreds of thousands of residents that live and work on the Lower West Side and the physicians who serve them desperately need a full service hospital and emergency room. I congratulate and thank Community Board 2 for their support and recognition of this critical need."

Eileen Dunn RN, a St. Vincent's nurse and member of the Coalition thanked the members of Community Board 2 stating "Community Board 2 has shown its true commitment to those they represent and I thank them for acknowledging, through this resolution, the importance of the health and safety of the people of the Lower West Side."

The Board's resolution puts them on record opposing any changes to the zoning, certificate of occupancy or other part of the land use that would eliminate the hospital use. Community Boards, while advisory, are considered an essential part of the ULURP process required to achieve such changes. Speaker Christine Quinn who also plays a vital role in the ULURP process is also recently on record stating that she "will continue our push for a full service hospital here." A full copy of the resolution is included below.

FULL TEXT OF RESOLUTION:

At its Full Board meeting on July 22, 2010, Community Board 2 (Manhattan) adopted the following resolution:

RESOLUTION STATING CB 2'S SUPPORT FOR THE CONTINUATION OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES ON THE FORMER ST. VINCENT'S CAMPUS

WHEREAS, the closure of St. Vincent's Hospital has resulted in the community's loss of an emergency room, in-patient hospital, Level 1 trauma center and the capacity to address a widespread public health emergency such as a natural disaster or act of terrorism, creating a significant gap in the health care services available to the residents of this community board and the entire Lower West Side of Manhattan; and

WHEREAS, as heard by the community board during the June 14 and July 15, 2010 public hearings and at previous community meetings, there is widespread public support for the re-establishment of a full-service, acute care hospital on the former St. Vincent's campus, and the community board reiterates its strong support for such a hospital at such location, as well; and

WHEREAS, all or part of the current St. Vincent's campus is the most logical, cost-effective, and central location for the re-establishment of such a hospital or other health care facility that will adequately address the community's myriad health care needs, and, in fact, may be the only location suitable for such a facility, which compounds the urgency of this resolution.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Community Board No. 2 opposes all changes in land use laws, zoning rules, landmarks laws, or any other laws that would eliminate hospital uses at the site of the former St. Vincent's; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOVED that CB2 shall seek to petition the Bankruptcy Court and create a community committee to explore in a publicly transparent manner, all options for the St. Vincent's campus, and requests assistance from the NYC Corporation Counsel to assert such a petition; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that CB2 urges our elected officials to join the Community Board in this petition.

Manhattan Community Board 2 Resolution on St. Vincent's

COALITION FOR A NEW VILLAGE HOSPITAL Petition

2010-05-28T17:44:00.002-04:00

Sign this petition to our elected officials Demand A Hospital for the Lower West Side!!!

COALITION FOR A NEW VILLAGE HOSPITAL Petition

HANDS AROUND ST. VINCENT’S THIS SATURDAY

2010-05-24T23:58:00.006-04:00

Let this response inspire us to action. This Saturday, May 29th at 2pm, we will be inviting all of our elected officials back to hear from experts and advocates who understand and care about our community to let them know that there is no reason why a hospital can't thrive at the old St. Vincent's site!

But we need you there on Saturday to let them know that we will not be dissuaded.

Hands Around St. Vincent's

SATURDAY MAY 29th

2:00 - 4:00pm

Gather at 7th Avenue & 12th Street

JOIN WITH US TO DEMAND A HOSPITAL AT THE SITE OF ST. VINCENT'S

COME SHARE YOUR STORIES AND LET OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS KNOW -
WE NEED A HOSPITAL AT THE ST. VINCENT'S SITE!

We also need your help spreading the word. Here's a PDF of a flyer you can print and distribute to your community. http://www.yettakurland.com/svh/handsflyer.pdf

You can RSVP to the Facebook Event here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124836660873812&ref=mf

Coalition for a New Village Hospital Responds to Senator Duane’s Forum

2010-05-24T23:47:00.004-04:00

Last Friday, Senator Thomas K. Duane held for a forum entitled "How Can We Get Back a Hospital for Our Community". The forum was a direct response to our work marching in the streets, fighting in the court, and organizing to demand that our hospital be restored.

Though some of the panelists invited by Senator Duane attempted to tell us we no longer need a hospital, Eileen Dunn, representing the Nurses Union, made it clear that we must we have a hospital on the Lower West Side and that if we make our voices heard, we can make it happen.

Perhaps most incredible was one of the panelists' response when asked what a resident should do if they were experiencing a heart attack or some other emergency.

Please see the clip below captured by George Sosa, a documentarian who covered this meeting to see what the "health advocate" had to say:

NYS Senator Thomas Duane's Health Care Education Panel 5/21/10 (Clip 1) from g. sosa on Vimeo.

Below is the Coalition’s answers to some of the questions posed at Senotr Duane’s forum.

WHY A HOSPITAL?
An urgent care center cannot meet the public health and safety needs of this community. It will not be able to offer level 1 trauma, an emergency room or related intensive care and hospital beds needed. Nor would it support the complex web of health care this community depended on with St. Vincent's and needs. This includes but is not limited to pediatric, oncology, HIV/AIDS and birthing services. A hospital will also be able to bring income to our City and the State through Federal funding, and other sources, not available to an urgent care center.

WHY THE ST. VINCENT'S LOCATION?
St. Vincent's location is centrally located, and already has hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure for a hospital. It will be significantly easier to renovate and reuse and will comport with the look, feel and needs of the community. It is not true that St. Vincent's past debts will adversely impact a new hospital for being at this site. In fact, because St. Vincent's is in bankruptcy, its past debts will be discharged and a new hospital would be able to acquire the property at a potentially greatly reduced price. Ideas to promise a hospital in the future at some other time would only be dangling a carrot that would be lost in vague real estate development schemes and would not put our health and safety first. It would also take years. In the meantime we would have lost the zoning for a hospital at the St. Vincent's site. If we can't open an active hospital at the site of a recently closed hospital, how are we going to open it anywhere else? We should not lose this opportunity.

WHY IS IT POSSIBLE?
Nay-sayers will tell you that it's not possible, that there is too much debt, that no entity is interested and that there are already too many hospital beds in Manhattan. This is far from the truth. First, the debt will be discharged. A hospital will provide more revenue streams than an urgent care center, and properly managed, especially given changes in national health care, could be a significant financial asset to the community. Second, there have been and continues to be many entities interested in opening a hospital at the St. Vincent's site, and it is up to our leaders to bring them to the table and find a way to do this. Finally, while there may be communities lucky enough to have too many hospital beds, we have far too little. In fact, we have none. We have a right to health care, and hospital beds and emergency care. And these vital services must be properly apportioned in all neighborhoods throughout Manhattan, including ours.

Coalition for a New Village Hospital holds Planning Meeting

2010-05-15T23:44:00.002-04:00

Over 125 people turned up for Thursday night's planning meeting at Our Lady of Pompeii Church in the West Village. In addition to community members, attendees included representatives of numerous community groups – including PTAs, block associations, civil rights groups, civic associations.

The meeting, chaired by Civil Rights Attorney Yetta Kurland, discussed various approaches to our demand for a new village hospital.

Here's a video of Ms. Kurland explaining the state of the legal challenges:

At this point, we were joined briefly by Julie Menin, Chair of Community Board One. Ms. Menin discussed the joint taskforce of Community Boards 1, 2, 3 and 4 on health care – and committed to work towards a hospital for the lower West Side. She also addressed the stresses already being felt on New York Downtown Hospital (formerly Beekman) in lower Manhattan.

Here she is discussing the role these hospitals play in the event of a homeland security emergency.

After these introductory presentations, the bulk of the meeting was composed of community ideas on how to fight back. Some of the consensus ideas were:

A campaign of Street Actions at the site of old St. Vincent's (more on this soon)
Work with the Community Boards to help keep the St. Vincent's site designated for hospital use.
Outreach to elected officials
Art and Culture installations
A complaint to the Attorney General's office was circulated.

Things are developing very quickly, so watch this space...

Planning Meeting, Thursday May 13th

2010-05-10T23:48:00.004-04:00

Help plan our next action!

This Thursday, May 13th at 6pm at Our Lady of Pompeii Church located at 25 Carmine Street, corner of Bleeker Street (Map), we'll hold a follow up meeting to our April 30th Town Hall Meeting where Assemblymember Gottfried, Assemblymember Glick and Senator Duane joined us to discuss some of the serious concerns with how St. Vincent's Hospital was closed and equally serious concerns with the fact that we now have no hospital on the lower west side of Manhattan.

There was an incredible turnout of hundreds of community members. Many great ideas came out of this Town Hall discussion and many of you have emailed us since then with other great ideas and thoughts.

We need to hear from you this Thursday as we sit down together to organize our next action and get even more people out.

The only way we will hold those responsible for this illegal closure and get a new hospital for the Village is if we get our entire community to come out so please come on Thursday to help us plan how to do this.

If you're on Facebook, RSVP to the Facebook event.

Video from the St. Vincent's Town Hall on April 30th

2010-05-05T12:23:00.003-04:00

Here are some of the highlights from last week's well attended town hall to Demand a Hospital at the St. Vincent's site.

Here's Civil Rights Attorney Yetta Kurland exposing some shady dealings involved with the closure.

And here's Eileen Dunn, RN, a longtime St. Vincent's nurse detailing how St. Vincent's management had failed to file paperwork for years. With the result that St. Vincent's employees have been denied unemployment benefits, social security accrual and more.

Later in the evening, New York State Assemblymember Richard N. Gottfried criticized New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The mayor, who likes to get involved in issues that are important to New York City, did not participate in trying to save St. Vincent's, the Hon. Gottfried said.

Dr. David Kaufman explained the differences between "Urgent Care" facilities and a hospital:

And here's the entire evening, captured by David Jr., a community resident.

Hundreds Turn out to Demand a Hospital at St. Vincent's

2010-05-01T16:32:00.005-04:00

Four hundred New Yorkers met at the Hudson Guild on Friday night to demand a hospital at St. Vincent's. Much of the three hour meeting was composed of residents speaking about how much St. Vincent's has meant to them, and how essential a full-service community hospital is to our city.

A panel of experts also spoke, detailing the history of St. Vincent's collapse, explaining impacts on the community and proposing new ways forward. Panel organizers Yetta Kurland and Thomas Shanahan were joined by Miguel Acevedo, St. Vincent's nurse Eileen Dunn RN, St. Vincent's doctor David Kaufman MD, and St. Vincent's patient Jay Kallio.

Elected officials including Assemblymember Richard Gottfired, Assemblymember Deborah Glick and Senator Thomas Duane also spoke and listened to feedback.

Contact your elected officials and Demand a Hospital at St. Vincent's!

2010-05-01T16:29:00.004-04:00

Any solution to this crisis will require leadership from our elected officials. We need to let them know that We Demand a Hospital at St. Vincent's! Here are some people to contact and a few sample letters.

Be sure to include your full name and address so they know who's calling.

Dear Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

The lower West side of Manhattan will not be safe without a level 1 trauma care hospital. I believe it will be more expensive to have to shuttle people between two facilities and we will lose federal funds available to a hospital that would not be available to an urgent care center. But most importantly, Mr. Mayor, there is no value you can put on human life. I am writing to demand that you protect our public health and safety and ensure a hospital exists at the site that was St. Vincent’s Hospital.

Email the Mayor at http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html, Call him at 311, or write him at City Hall, New York, NY 10007

Dear Governor Paterson:
We need a hospital on the lower West side of Manhattan. An urgent care center will not be able to provide the level of emergency care or the breadth of full health care services our community needs. It would not be able to adequately address any real public health or safety issues if they were to come up. Where is our hospital? I am writing to let you know we demand a hospital in lower Manhattan.

Email the Governor here, Call him at 518-474-8390, or write him at State Capitol, Albany, NY12224

Dear NYS Commissioner of Health Richard F. Daines:

You have a duty to the community in lower Manhattan to make sure a hospital exists here. The Berger Commission determined what hospitals should and should not be closed down, and St. Vincent’s was not chosen to be shut down. This means there is a real and compelling public need for a hospital at this location. I am writing to demand that you make sure this happen in the immediate. Also what happened to St. Vincent’s? You have the power to compel an investigation by the Attorney General’s office to find out why St. Vincent’s lost so much money. I am asking that you do this immediately.

Email the Commissioner at dohweb@health.state.ny.us, Call him at 518-474-2011, and write him at New York State Dept of Health, Corning Tower, Empire State Plaza, Albany,NY 12237

Dear Speaker Christine Quinn (Speaker of the City Council AND Lower West Side's Councilmember):

As you well know, we need a hospital on the lower West side of Manhattan. An urgent care center will not be able to provide the level of emergency care or the breadth of full health care services our community needs. It would not be able to adequately address any real public health or safety issues if they were to come up. I am writing to ask you to encourage the city council to guarantee that the resources and land at the old St. Vincent’s site be adaptively reused for a community hospital. Thank you.

Email Speaker Quinn at quinn@council.nyc.ny.us, call her at (212) 564-7757 and write to her at 224 West 30th St., Suite 1206, New York, NY 10001

Dear Senator Thomas K. Duane (Chair of the NYS Senate Health Committee AND Lower West Side's Senator):
As you well know, we need a hospital on the lower West side of Manhattan. An urgent care center will not be able to provide the level of emergency care or the breadth of full health care services our community needs. It would not be able to adequately address any real public health or safety issues if they were to come up. Also what happened to St. Vincent’s? You have the power to hold a hearing in the Senate Health Committee to find out why St. Vincent’s lost so much money. I am asking that you do this immediately.

Email the Senator at duane@senate.state.ny.us, call him at (212) 633-8052 or (518) 455-2451, and write him at 322 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1700, New York, NY 10001

Dear Assemblymember Richard N. Gottfried (Chair, NYS Assembly Health Committee and West Side Assemblymember):
As you well know, we need a hospital on the lower west side of Manhattan. An urgent care center will not be able to provide the level of emergency care or the breadth of full health care services our community needs. It would not be able to adequately address any real public health or safety issues if they were to come up. Also what happened to St. Vincent’s? You have the power to hold a hearing in the Assembly Health Committee to find out why St. Vincent’s lost so much money. I am asking that you do this immediately.

Email the Assemblymember at GottfriedR@assembly.state.ny.us, call him at 212-807-7900 or518-455-4941, and write him at 242 West 27th Street,New York,NY 10001

Timeline at St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan

2010-05-01T15:50:00.003-04:00

How did this happen? Here's a timeline of the negotiation and deals involved in the closure of our St. Vincent's

St. Vincent's Timeline

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Myths vs. Truths at St. Vincent's Hospital

2010-05-01T15:33:00.002-04:00

Myths vs. Truths at St. Vincent's Hospital

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