St. Vincent's Rally
Monday, October 25th, 2010
For 161 years St. Vincent's Hospital sat on West 12 Street and Seventh Avenue, serving Lower Manhattan residents, including the poor and uninsured who could not afford care anywhere else. On September 11, 2001, it was the primary medical facility utilized in the emergency response to the attack on the World Trade Center. It was one of New York’s preeminent treatment centers as the HIV/AIDS epidemic swept across the city in the 1980s. But during this time, the hospital also accumulated hundreds of millions in debt and was forced to close its doors April of this year.
Protesters came prepared with handmade signs calling for the reopening of St. Vincent's hospital. (Sarah Bures)
Lower Manhattan residents and community leaders have voiced concerns over whether the area’s medical needs are being met since St. Vincent’s closing. On October 17, the Coalition for a New Village Hospital held its “100 Days Without a Hospital” rally in front of the empty buildings of the once-bustling facility. Hundreds of citizens came out to protest the city's failure to provide a full-service medical facility to the people of the lower west side. Led by community activist and attorney Yetta Kurland, protesters were rallied on by a diverse group of speakers, including actress Michelle Clunie and Lt. Daniel Choi, an Iraq War veteran and LGBT rights activist who challenged the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Founding member of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital, Yetta Kurland speaks to reporters at the 100 Days Without a Hospital rally. (Sarah Bures)
“We’re here today to let our elected officials know that we are not going to be quiet,” Kurland said over the loudspeakers. “We’re going to continue to show up until we have full restoration of emergency services and hospital care here at the site of St. Vincent’s.”
There is fear over how former St. Vincent’s patients will receive adequate care within close proximity. “This is the first time I've been scared, after 22 years of living with AIDS,” said actor Richard Stack, a plaintiff in Kurland's suit this year against the city's closing of the facility.
There is fear over how former St. Vincent’s patients will receive adequate care within close proximity. “This is the first time I've been scared, after 22 years of living with AIDS,” said actor Richard Stack, a plaintiff in Kurland's suit this year against the city's closing of the facility.
The rally was held in the wake of reports that emergency room visits have increased at city hospitals since St. Vincent's demise, which left Bellevue Hospital on First Avenue in the East Village as the only Level 1 trauma center in Lower Manhattan. The *New York Daily News* reported that Bellevue has experienced a jump in monthly ER visits to 10,000 patients from a previous average of 8,000, while nearby Beth Israel Medical Center's 70-bed emergency room reported a 25 percent to 30 percent rise in patients.
Rally attendees directed much of their anger at Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York State Commissioner of Health Dr. Richard Daines. “I was born in this hospital,” said Village resident Earl Carter. “What city in the United States has a mayor that totally ignores an emergency trauma center being closed without saying a single word? It's the mayor of New York. He didn't do a damn thing about this hospital.”
Rally attendees directed much of their anger at Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York State Commissioner of Health Dr. Richard Daines. “I was born in this hospital,” said Village resident Earl Carter. “What city in the United States has a mayor that totally ignores an emergency trauma center being closed without saying a single word? It's the mayor of New York. He didn't do a damn thing about this hospital.”
For more images of the St. Vincent's rally, please check out the St. Vincent's photo story.
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