Rally TODAY: 100 Days Without a Hospital

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:

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

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

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!

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