Sunday, February 7, 2010

Where was the hand-wringing a year ago?

From the NY Times:

This week, Gov. David A. Paterson pledged to help keep St. Vincent’s, the last remaining Catholic general hospital in the city, open for another month while officials looked for a long-term solution. But on Friday, a spokeswoman for the governor said that while the state was trying to help, it would not be able to single-handedly provide enough money for the hospital to stay open.

“The governor’s office has been meeting nonstop with all the stakeholders to find a solution,” said the spokeswoman, Marissa Shorenstein. “Governor Paterson is doing everything he can to keep St. Vincent’s going. But we can’t do it alone. We need partners.”

So far, the hospital, which is $700 million in debt and in danger of bankruptcy, has not found a partner.


When Caritas closed St. John's and Mary Immaculate Hospitals last year, it had only $188 million in liabilities - for 2 hospitals. While workers were asking for help:

Governor Paterson didn't give a shit.
Christine Quinn didn't give a shit.
Mayor Bloomberg didn't give a shit.
Local 1199 of the S.E.I.U. was more interested in attending Obama's inauguration.

Number of people in Queens: 2.3M
Number of hospitals in Queens: 9

Number of people in Manhattan: 1.6M
Number of hospitals in Manhattan: 23

And most of the "million more people" Bloomberg wants to see in the city by 2030 are heading straight to Queens.

Photo from the Daily News

4 comments:

georgetheatheist said...

"Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!"

http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=
grbSQ6O6kbs

Georges said...

The ratio of Queens population served by Hospitals is a dire situation and unacceptable. Albany wake up don't you remember how vital our hospitals everywhere were instrumental in helping 911 injured folks?

Anonymous said...

We are very underserved. The average wait time at a Queens ER is crazy. Many in eastern part of the borough go over the line to LIJ or North Shore but thats not an option for everyone. LIJ also gets hit by both Queens and Nassau residents so they are almost always over capacity.

Anonymous said...

Ok ok ok.

We all know this.

So stop wasting everyone's time bitching and doing nothing. This is why you have this mess - everyone knows that they can get away with this.

So why aren't you asking your city council person while they are at yet another 14 story grandbreaking ceremony.

So why aren't you writing letters about this to the paper when they devote page after page to the real estate frenzy?

The only think you have to lose are the tiretreads running up your back

(PS share your effors with crappy)