http://youtu.be/6LlQ55PF2r8

3/18/12 - The Left Forum 2012 (3/16 - 3/18), hosts the panel discussion, "St. Vincent's Meets Occupy Wall Street: Is Health Care the Next Predatory Financial Opportunity for the 1 Percent?" In this excerpt, civil rights lawyer/activist, Yetta Kurland (Coalition for a New Village Hospital), outlines some of the legal issues surrounding the closure of St. Vincent's. Ms. Kurland also recounts the community's organizing efforts and steadfast determination to reinstate a full-service hospital.

Also on the panel are Eileen Dunn, former president of the St. Vincent's Nurses Association and Katie Robbins of Heathcare for the 99%.

Note: On Wednesday, March 28th, 2012, the New York City Council will hold their final meeting--and vote--regarding the Rudin Plan. At stake are the re-zoning changes that will give Bill Rudin, and Rudin Management, the go-ahead to convert the former St. Vincent's campus into luxury condos. Community activists insist that zoning modifications should be contingent upon scrapping any plans for an urgent care center and establishing a full-service hospital and emergency center.

More to come, stay tuned.

In the meantime, please visit our video blog, "Why Are They Closing St. Vincent's Hospital?," for our collected reports and future updates: http://watclosingstvincentshospital.blogspot.com/

Thanks for watching, help spread the word.

Related articles/links:

Healthcare For The 99% - Last Hearing on St. Vincent's Hospital Being Turned into Luxury Condos
http://owshealthcare.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/last-hearing-on-st-vincents-hospit...

St. Vincent's Hospital: Timeline of a Crime / March 2010 - March 2012
http://prezi.com/uayvj2uyigms/st-vincents-hospital-timeline-of-a-crime-march-201...

NY1 - Two Years After Closure of St. Vincent's Hospital, Protests Continue
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_stories/157433/two-years-after-closure-of-s...

Seniors Freeze Outside St. Vincent's Demolition Hearings
http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2012/03/08/seniors-freeze-outside-st-vincents-demo...

Donny Moss - Fiasco at City Hall - March 6, 2012 - tinyurl.com/75haym4

BoldProgressNYC - Did Christine Quinn, City Council Deliberately Deny Community Access to Rudin Condo Hearing? http://youtube.com/watch?v=huQSunP0L-Q&feature

Gotham Gazette - Councilpedia - Keeping Track of City Officials
http://councilpedia.org/index.php?title=Councilpedia_Home

DNAinfo.com - Luxury Condos in Former St. Vincent's Building to Hit the Market
http://dnainfo.com/20110926/greenwich-village-soho/luxury-condos-former-st-vince...

PNHP - Doctors Support Occupy Wall Street Because Wall Street Is Occupying Health Care
http://pnhp.org/ows/index.php

Gotham Gazette - St. Vincent's Highlights Crunch for Hospitals Serving the Poor
http://gothamgazette.com/article/health/20110720/9/3569/

NY Magazine - St. Vincent's is the Lehman Brothers of Hospitals
http://nymag.com/news/features/68991/

Paul Krugman - NY Times - Patients Are Not Consumers
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/patients-are-not-consumers/

David Brooks - NY Times - Where Are the Liberals?
http://nytimes.com/2012/01/10/opinion/brooks-where-are-the-liberals.html?_r=1&am...

Related sites:

Occupy Together
http://occupytogether.org/

Coalition for a New Village Hospital
http://demandahospital.blogspot.com/

Hands Off St. Vincent's!
http://handsoffstvincents.com

Hands Off St. Vincents Call for a New Hospital (Petition)
http://signon.org/sign/hands-off-st-vincents?source=c.fwd&r_by=1951294