Save St. Vincent's Hospital Rally(and the closing) NYC (4-24-10)

St. Vincent's Catholic Hospital, a 160-year old institution in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, closed for good on Friday, April 30, 2010, after months of feuding and years of financial struggles. St. Vincent's is no longer with us.

July 7, 2010. (Yes, it took too long to post this report from April 24th) But, sadly, the situation hasn't improved...



More hospital closings are bound to follow....



The situation will only get worse now that Obama has appointed "health expert, Donald Berwick, to run the Medicare and Medicaid programs; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that provide care to seniors and the poor. Another horrid appointment by Obama. Berwick has been placed at the heart of Obama's overhaul of our nationalized healthcare and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell correctly accused the Obama administration of arrogantly circumventing the American people by appointing "one of the most prominent advocates of rationed health-care to implement this national (healthcare) plan." VSB: God Help Us All.



This Marxist-Socialist juggernaut won't stop til we are all dead or dying; we are expendable.... "The shortsighted liberal left, who fear questions, responsibility, and honesty only slightly less than they fear discussing real solutions to real problems, are hell-bent on destroying this nation financially. Their own value systems and beliefs are the true culprits, but you can't convince them of that." American Thinker





These 'progressives' are so out-of-touch with reality, they aren't capable of accepting that they have only themselves to blame.



A community marching and railing against the very machine (the organizations and politicos) that they support.




They demanded comprehensive health services to the lower West Side but these were demands made to the same Lefty-Union-Progressive-Workers Party-Politicos who made the destructive mess that killed St. Vincent's !



With their John Edwards lawsuits and unrealistic union demands, there was no where to go but 'down and out".




No "mea culpas" from the local pols: Tom Duane, Scott Stringer, Jerry Nadler etc. See VIDEO of these politicos the day before the march in a NY Daily News post: here . Their hypocrisy: predictable. Lots of blame for nameless others; for
someone else, anyone else: Must be someone above their pay-grade?



NOT ONE of them suggested that maybe Obama-Care might not be lookin' so good....



See more of the Rally March here (slide-show pics)



They were mad at Mayor Bloomberg and Christine Quinn; mad at the Catholic Church (!) but where was the anger for the unions ...or Pelosi and company....



No names on that coffin, that we can see....



More pictures of the Rally at the Hospital below (slide-show)



The videos: Part 1 is Tom Duane (Progressive-Workers Party friendly-New York State Senator) Very amusing to watch the nurses ( none of whom complained about their union's demands) as they heckled Duane with " Whata ya gonna do!"! (a sweet reward for standing in the very hot sun)His pretty words were just not cutting it.




Part 2: The head of the nurses' union wanted an apology from Duane for turning them (the nurses?) out of a meeting. They didn't get that apology, that I'm aware of but, she had not an angry word against her union either....




(Part 3) A community activist (the MC of sorts) had lots to criticize, but didn't hear any complaints from him about Obama, Pelosi or Reid....




Part 4 - Scott Stringer (Borough President) Has to deal with the crowd as did Duane. The crowd wasn't easily pacified and they were the very people who voted them in to office (and will do so again!)



April 30, 2010. It was a sad day for St. Vincent's. And with the closing of the hospital, they held their last mass inside. There was a beautiful church within the hospital. (Couldn't find any pictures of the chapel other than the one below)

More background and follow-up:

St Vincents hospital closed for good (Boston.Com)

St Vincent's reaches out to the public here and here

And an article from WNYC.org



A quote from the SEIU -hypocrites : "Kevin Finnegan, political director of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, said, "It would be outrageous for the state to even entertain offers to close the only hospital that services hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who work or live on the West Side of Manhattan below 59th Street.") Come on guys, answer the question from those UNION NURSES yelling at the rally...



"What are you going to DO" about saving even more St. Vincent's from closing...(crickets chirping)




Obama-Care will continue (not end) jammed Emergency Rooms and rationing .... (see the appointment 63 years old, pediatrician, Donald Berwick ! )


DOCTOR Berwick is on record from 2009 , "The decision is not whether or not we will ration care - the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open. And right now, we are doing it blindly."




A few more links on St. Vincent's. Go here and here . And the map below, gives an over-view of the emergency room situation on on the island.

NEW YORK (Map)

Some more history: St. Vincent's Hospital fought to save lives for more than 160 years, treating everyone from survivors of the Titanic in 1912 to New Yorkers fleeing the terror attack on the World Trade Center. The hospital founded by four Roman Catholic nuns in a Greenwich Village brownstone was also ground zero in the battle against AIDS.

Here's some interesting readers' comments from NY Daily News :

"If St. Vincent's had been able to build the planned state-of-the-art facility on the site of the O'Toole building, they could've offered services to well-heeled patients willing to pay. This income would have reduced the debt, which could have been paid-off. The NIMBY crowd went on the attack, "it'll cut off the sun from my windows" ... "this is a residential neighborhood" "..." the building is too tall." All specious arguments. Villagers are to blame for closing the hospital they claim to have cared about." ( VSB: It was well-known and well-heeled opposition .... Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins among others)


"Well, you people there in the West Village were happy to reward Quinn to an illegal 3rd term along with her boss that she genuflects to, his Highness the Emperor. I'm curious to know how many people in that crowd voted for Quinn and Bloomberg believing that both will be angels looking over their best interests? I'm sure with Bloomberg's clout he could have got some investors to come up with money to keep St. Vincent open. He sure found money to build stadiums that sit empty most of the year. St. Vincent has people in it 24/7. That is what you get for not being civic minded. Quinn should have been voted out for bringing that illegal bill to the floor to overturn term limits. Instead, you all are selfish, thinking only of yourselves, instead of the greater good, so you rewarded her with a 3rd illegal term. You have no one to blame but yourselves."

More in the NY Daily News here and here

Found some compelling archived reports in the Village Voice on St. Vincent's from after 9-11: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4


IN CONCLUSION: This report is about so much more than just the tragic closing of this hospital...it's about the future of all our hospitals.




It's about Obama Care; Pelosi-Reid and Company (not rent reform...read her t-shirt)



So, "Now What?"




2010...2012....



VOTE THE BUMS OUT!