St. Vincent's Pt. 2: The Coalition For A New Village Hospital

     Supporters of the Coalition For A New Village Hospital at last Sunday's 100 Days Without A Hospital Rally

In April, as St. Vincent's Hospital began shutting down its medical services, doctors and nurses afraid of losing their jobs set out to find a solution to the hospital's billion-dollar crisis. They found their leader in civil rights attorney, Yetta Kurland.

When a partnership with Mt. Sinai fell through and public hearings were unable to solve the enormous debt, the hospital shut its doors. That's when the group got its name: Coaltion For A New Village Hospital.

While Kurland leads the coalition's legal team. The rest of the organizations members are a mix of doctors, nurses, business owners from the area, locals and out of staters - all volunteers  less than
happy with the fall out from St. Vincent's closing.




Organized into outreach, fund-raising, public relations, and direct action committees, the volunteers are working towards two goals: a full investigation into the hospital closing, which they believe was done unlawfully, and, most importantly, the reinstatement of a small community hospital with 200-300 beds, as well as, emergency services.

"Until we know what went wrong solving the problem, we can't look elsewhere," said Kurland regarding her lawsuit against the New York State Department of Health.

In August, Kurland and the coalition's legal team sued the state's Department of Health to release public records chronicling the hospital's bankrupcy.  These documents include management and mismanagement information, hospital closure plans, transfer plans etc. - all data they believe furthers the claim that the hospital was closed illegally. While the government has not released the records, Manhattan's Community Boards 1 and 2 have passed resolutions to reinstate a hospital using St. Vincent's empty faciliites. In addition to these resolutions, the city has a needs assesment underway to show the economic viability of a new hospital in the Lower West Side.

"It's like an atomic bomb has gone off on 12th Street. Businesses are closing faster than ever before," Kurland noted. While income loss is one concern, work-related injuries are another. Kurland pointed out, "businesses have depended on St. Vincent's services for years, but no longer." 

Outside of the legal effort, the organization has also created a petition calling elected officials to preserve the hospitals infrastructure for future use in a new hospital. You can find its volunteers all around the neighborhood, clipboard in hand looking to add supporters and signatures for their petition. Today, you would have seen Ms. Kurland and Jane Korczynski, a member of the coalition's outreach committee, doing the same at Abington Square Park passing out fliers and looking for new petitioners.

Last Sunday, Oct. 17, a thousand people came out to show their solidarity at the coalition's 100 Days Without a Hospital Rally. Chanting, "what do we want? A Hospital! When do we want it? Now!" it was clear the group would not stop until their beloved issue was resolved.

See my pictures from the rally below.

For more information on the Coalition, check out their blog: http://demandahospital.blogspot.com/