Since the illegal closing of St. Vincent's Hospital over a year ago, the hole in services has impacted countless New Yorkers. While much of the mounting evidence has been anecdotal, we have seen quantifiable impacts on the wait times at other New York hospitals like New York Downtown and Beth Israel. Last fall, Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, Bellevue's longtime chief of emergency medicine, went on the record to call the loss of St. Vincent's a "a significant disaster" for emergency care in NYC.Another important part of this puzzle is the impact on ambulance services. We know travel times are longer, but exactly how we haven't heard.
Tonight at 6:00PM, the FDNY will give a presentation to CB2's Environment, Public Safety & Public Health Committee on precisely this question. It will be valuable community information, and an opportunity to ask the important questions.
I hope you will join me and the Coalition for a New Village Hospital there.
Tonight, Wednesday 7/20 at 6:30 PM
Little Red School House, Auditorium
196 Bleecker St. (enter on Sixth Avenue)
In solidarity,
Yetta Kurland