tagged w/ Hospitals
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Accretive Health, a debt-collection company under fire from Minnesota and federal officials for aggressive tactics to squeeze money from hospital patients, is striking back at critics.
In a rebuttal to accusations made by Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson (D), Accretive Health flatly denied it has violated federal or Minnesota laws governing debt collection and patient privacy and said its role in hospitals is to help patients find ways to pay for their medical care. "We are proud of what we do," the company said in 29-page report issued Friday evening. "Patients appreciate the education, expertise, and compassion that we provide."
Accretive Health has been battered in Minnesota, Washington, and on Wall Street since Swanson published a six-volume report on her website last month alleging that the Chicago-based company demanded that emergency room patients pay before receiving medical care, that collectors visited patients' bedsides asking for money, and that collectors employed harsh and deceptive tactics. Democratic lawmakers and federal agencies have made inquiries and Accretive Health shares lost more than half their value before rebounding after the company reported positive earnings Thursday.
Read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/11/accretive-health-debt-collector-hospitals_n_1509329.htmlAccretive Health, a debt-collection company under fire from Minnesota and federal... more
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Imzadi
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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-hospital-being-turned-into-luxury-condos/#comments
St. Vincent's Hospital: Timeline of a Crime / March 2010 - March 2012
http://prezi.com/uayvj2uyigms/st-vincents-hospital-timeline-of-a-crime-march-2010-march-2012/
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-st--vincent-s-hospital--protests-continue
Seniors Freeze Outside St. Vincent's Demolition Hearings
http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2012/03/08/seniors-freeze-outside-st-vincents-demolition-hearings/
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-vincents-building-hit-market
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&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=OP-E-FB-SM-LIN-WAL-011012-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click
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=19512943/18/12 - The Left Forum 2012 (3/16 - 3/18), hosts the panel discussion, "St.... more
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3/10/12 - The Hedz-Up Report covers Hands Off St. Vincent's hastily organized press conference on the heels of this past Tuesday's tumultuous New York City Council Hearing. The hearing, ostensibly scheduled to solicit final public testimony regarding zoning changes needed for Bill Rudin's luxury condo plan to proceed, was marked by frustration and ineptitude. Approximately two hundred local residents and activists, gathered to present their testimony only to be forced to wait outdoors in freezing temperatures. Those on line, many of them senior citizens, waited as long as two to three hours in order to exercise their right to testify before the Council. One person in line collapsed and had to be treated by an FDNY EMS unit.
Norman Siegel, civil rights attorney and former head of the NY Civil Liberties Union, kicks off the press conference. Other speakers include:
Tom Allon - Democrat and Liberal NYC mayoral candidate, 2013
Miguel Acevedo - President, Tenants' Association, Fulton Houses
Dr. Steve Auerbach - Physicians for a National Health Program
Brad Hoylman - Chair, Community Board 2
Elizabeth Adam - Community resident/activist, Greenwich Village
Shirley Gunson - Community resident/activist, Fulton Houses
Evette Stark-Katz - Community resident/activist, Greenwich Village
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: 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
https://owshealthcare.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/last-hearing-on-st-vincents-ho...
St. Vincent's Hospital: Timeline of a Crime / March 2010 - March 2012
https://prezi.com/uayvj2uyigms/st-vincents-hospital-timeline-of-a-crime-march...
NY1 - Two Years After Closure of St. Vincent's Hospital, Protests Continue
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_stories/157433/two-years-after-closure-o...
Seniors Freeze Outside St. Vincent's Demolition Hearings
http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2012/03/08/seniors-freeze-outside-st-vincents-d...
Donny Moss - Fiasco at City Hall - March 6, 2012 - http://tinyurl.com/75haym4
BoldProgressNYC - Did Christine Quinn, City Council Deliberately Deny Community Access to Rudin Condo Hearing? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huQSunP0L-Q&feature
Gotham Gazette - Councilpedia - Keeping Track of City Officials
http://www.councilpedia.org/index.php?title=Councilpedia_Home
DNAinfo.com - Luxury Condos in Former St. Vincent's Building to Hit the Market
https://dnainfo.com/20110926/greenwich-village-soho/luxury-condos-former-st-v...
PNHP - Doctors Support Occupy Wall Street Because Wall Street Is Occupying Health Care
https://pnhp.org/ows/index.php
Gotham Gazette - St. Vincent's Highlights Crunch for Hospitals Serving the Poor
https://gothamgazette.com/article/health/20110720/9/3569/
NY Magazine - St. Vincent's is the Lehman Brothers of Hospitals
https://nymag.com/news/features/68991/
Paul Krugman - NY Times - Patients Are Not Consumers
https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/patients-are-not-consumers/
David Brooks - NY Times - Where Are the Liberals?
https://nytimes.com/2012/01/10/opinion/brooks-where-are-the-liberals.html?_r=...
Related sites:
Occupy Together
https://occupytogether.org/
Coalition for a New Village Hospital
https://demandahospital.blogspot.com/
Hands Off St. Vincent's!
https://handsoffstvincents.com
Hands Off St. Vincents Call for a New Hospital (Petition)
https://signon.org/sign/hands-off-st-vincents?source=c.fwd&r_by=19512943/10/12 - The Hedz-Up Report covers Hands Off St. Vincent's hastily organized... more
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3/10/12 - The Hedz-Up Report covers Hands Off St. Vincent's hastily organized press conference on the heels of this past Tuesday's tumultuous New York City Council Hearing. The hearing, ostensibly scheduled to solicit final public testimony regarding zoning changes needed for Bill Rudin's luxury condo plan to proceed, was marked by frustration and ineptitude. Approximately two hundred local residents and activists, gathered to present their testimony only to be forced to wait outdoors in freezing temperatures. Those on line, many of them senior citizens, waited as long as two to three hours in order to exercise their right to testify before the Council. One person in line collapsed and had to be treated by an FDNY EMS unit.
Norman Siegel, civil rights attorney and former head of the NY Civil Liberties Union, kicks off the press conference. Other speakers include:
Tom Allon - Democrat and Liberal NYC mayoral candidate, 2013
Miguel Acevedo - President, Tenants' Association, Fulton Houses
Dr. Steve Auerbach - Physicians for a National Health Program
Brad Hoylman - Chair, Community Board 2
Elizabeth Adam - Community resident/activist, Greenwich Village
Shirley Gunson - Community resident/activist, Fulton Houses
Evette Stark-Katz - Community resident/activist, Greenwich Village
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: https://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
https://owshealthcare.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/last-hearing-on-st-vincents-hospital-being-turned-into-luxury-condos/#comments
St. Vincent's Hospital: Timeline of a Crime / March 2010 - March 2012
https://prezi.com/uayvj2uyigms/st-vincents-hospital-timeline-of-a-crime-march-2010-march-2012/
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-st--vincent-s-hospital--protests-continue
Seniors Freeze Outside St. Vincent's Demolition Hearings
http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2012/03/08/seniors-freeze-outside-st-vincents-demolition-hearings/
Donny Moss - Fiasco at City Hall - March 6, 2012 - http://tinyurl.com/75haym4
BoldProgressNYC - Did Christine Quinn, City Council Deliberately Deny Community Access to Rudin Condo Hearing? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huQSunP0L-Q&feature
Gotham Gazette - Councilpedia - Keeping Track of City Officials
http://www.councilpedia.org/index.php?title=Councilpedia_Home
DNAinfo.com - Luxury Condos in Former St. Vincent's Building to Hit the Market
https://dnainfo.com/20110926/greenwich-village-soho/luxury-condos-former-st-vincents-building-hit-market
PNHP - Doctors Support Occupy Wall Street Because Wall Street Is Occupying Health Care
https://pnhp.org/ows/index.php
Gotham Gazette - St. Vincent's Highlights Crunch for Hospitals Serving the Poor
https://gothamgazette.com/article/health/20110720/9/3569/
NY Magazine - St. Vincent's is the Lehman Brothers of Hospitals
https://nymag.com/news/features/68991/
Paul Krugman - NY Times - Patients Are Not Consumers
https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/patients-are-not-consumers/
David Brooks - NY Times - Where Are the Liberals?
https://nytimes.com/2012/01/10/opinion/brooks-where-are-the-liberals.html?_r=1&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=OP-E-FB-SM-LIN-WAL-011012-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click
Related sites:
Occupy Together
https://occupytogether.org/
Coalition for a New Village Hospital
https://demandahospital.blogspot.com/
Hands Off St. Vincent's!
https://handsoffstvincents.com
Hands Off St. Vincents Call for a New Hospital (Petition)
https://signon.org/sign/hands-off-st-vincents?source=c.fwd&r_by=19512943/10/12 - The Hedz-Up Report covers Hands Off St. Vincent's hastily organized... more
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I recently had an experience where I had to go to the emergency room due to a diabetic condition. Upon entering the emergency room I informed them that I am a insulin-dependant diabetic and needed insulin because my insulin pump stopped working and was in critical danger. They forced me to have a full cardio workup with blood draws, an EKG, and a chest x-ray. I verbally refused all of the tests and kept asking for insulin. I did not receive insulin and was transported to a cardiac hospital. I fell into diabetic ketoacidosis due to blood sugars over 400 for several hours while they were forcing expensive tests on me and ended up in the ICU for almost 3 days.
I have recently reported this incident to my insurance company’s fraud division and will let them investigate. This experience caused me a lot of confusion and presented me with the following questions:
How many tests do hospitals submit to insurance companies that they never perform?
How many claims do they submit for expensive tests that are either, not required or refused by the patient?
How many patients that have been in situations similar to mine where they are alone and unable to defend themselves that this has this happened to?
Could this be a major contributing cause to skyrocketing health costs?
Should insurance companies conduct random interviews with their insured clients to spot check for fraud?I recently had an experience where I had to go to the emergency room due to a diabetic... more
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A pair of 12-year-old girls who discovered they were accidentally switched at birth want to stay with the mothers who have been raising them rather than go to their real parents.
The girls have grown up just a few miles away from each other in the town of Kopeisk in the Ural Mountains of eastern Russia.
Their mothers gave birth in the same maternity ward just 15 minutes apart in 1999, and their infant daughters were inadvertently given the wrong name tags.
Their true identities were revealed after the ex-husband of Yuliya Belyaeva, one of the mothers, refused to pay for child care because his daughter, Irina, looked nothing like him. After conducting several DNA tests it emerged that neither adult was Irina’s biological parent.
“The judge couldn’t believe it,” Belyaeva told the BBC. “She said she’d only seen cases like this on TV and didn’t know what to advise us.”
The DNA tests sent Belyaeva on a search for her own daughter. She remembered that when she was giving birth, another woman was also in labor in the same ward. ...read more http://www.factoverfiction.com/article/4674A pair of 12-year-old girls who discovered they were accidentally switched at birth... more
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The Syrian government has turned hospitals into instruments of repression in its efforts to crush opposition, Amnesty International said today in a new report.
The 39-page report Health Crisis: Syrian Government Targets the Wounded and Health Workers documents how wounded patients in at least four government-run hospitals have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including by medical workers.
Hospital workers suspected of treating protesters and others injured in unrest-related incidents have themselves faced arrest and torture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCEAd0etmx0The Syrian government has turned hospitals into instruments of repression in its... more
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Camp Shelby is sending 77 Air Force Cadet personnel to local hospitals in the Hattiesburg area for medical evaluation after being in the area of a lighting strike.
http://exm.nr/jij9a3Camp Shelby is sending 77 Air Force Cadet personnel to local hospitals in the... more
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Every gathering of the Legislature has its share of goofy bills, but this one is a real head-scratcher.
State Sen. Scott Newman, a Republican from Hutchinson, has proposed legislation that would likely ban almost all state grants from going to nonprofit organizations. Officials from Minnesota's nonprofits are trying to figure out what he could be thinking. And so am I.
What gives? Newman isn't talking. (More on that later.)
But his idea has got others talking. One lawyer for nonprofits told me the bill, if enacted into law, would shut down hospitals all over the state.
"It's so terribly broad. You can certainly read it [that it] would close down every non-profit hospital in the state,'' volunteers Tom Johnson, an attorney with Gray Plant Mooty who represents nonprofits.
On the face of it, the proposed law, of which Newman is sole author and at last check had no companion bill in the House, would "make it difficult for nonprofits to have much of a field left in which to operate,'' says Johnson, former Hennepin County attorney.
Just as puzzled, but perhaps more diplomatic, is Susie Brown, public policy director for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. "We're very interested in learning what the problem is he is trying to resolve with this piece of legislation,'' she admits. She, too, is reaching out to talk with Newman about his bill.
Banning state money from going to nonprofits would be a big deal. Keep in mind, as Brown explains, nonprofits are often the delivery mechanism in communities for carrying out budget and policy choices of the state. Plus, government grants are a really significant resource for many nonprofits, she said.
The 2,000 nonprofit members of the organization deliver a wide spectrum of services in areas such as health, housing, food, employment, legal and civil rights advocacy, education, volunteerism and other human services.
So what's the intent of this legislation? Maybe you can figure it out.
Here's Senate File 1096, called Grants to Nonprofits Prohibited in Certain Situations:
"No person, corporation or entity doing business as a nonprofit entity shall receive public funding to provide goods or services if the same or similar goods or services can be provided by a state agency or a private for-profit business entity."
What's Newman's side of the story? I can't seem to get a response from him — and that could stem in part from another snafu.
Remember the new state senator whose staff last January emailed the Minnesota Nurses Association to say that the senator had a policy of not meeting with groups that had supported his opponent? Well, Newman is that senator.
Newman initially stonewalled a media clamoring for explanations, later denied the existence of such a policy and then blamed the mistake on a staffer. The incident resulted in an ethics complaint against him, which was dismissed by a bipartisan Senate panel.
You have to wonder: Is this more stonewalling?
I started trying to contact him Thursday with phone calls and email messages.
I asked for five minutes of his time. His staff said Thursday his day was heavily scheduled. They told me Friday he had headed home to meet with his constituents.
Does he have a cell phone, I asked.
He's been given the message you called, I was told, and was referred to the Republican media contact.
By Friday, Chris Van Guilder, the media's conduit to GOP senators, called back to say he had "not been able to contact or hear back from Senator Newman.''
"I'll let you know as soon as I know more,'' Van Guilder told me in a voice messge.
Haven't heard back.
http://www.minnpost.com/communitysketchbook/2011/04/12/27383/proposed_legislation_stuns_minnesotas_nonprofitsEvery gathering of the Legislature has its share of goofy bills, but this one is a... more
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3/10/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the contentious community meeting co-sponsored by Community Boards 2 & 4,"Assess Your Access: Healthcare in the Wake of St. Vincent's Closure." Further charging the atmosphere is the bombshell news, announced earlier in the day, of the Rudin family's $260 million deal w/ the bankrupt St. Vincent's Hospital. Plans call for the construction of a state-of-the-art "comprehensive care center," across the street from the shuttered SVH. The hospital's main building would be converted into condos.3/10/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the contentious community meeting co-sponsored by... more
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3/10/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the contentious community meeting co-sponsored by Community Boards 2 & 4,"Assess Your Access: Healthcare in the Wake of St. Vincent's Closure." Further charging the atmosphere is the bombshell news, announced earlier in the day, of the Rudin family's $260 million deal w/ the bankrupt St. Vincent's Hospital. Plans call for the construction of a state-of-the-art "comprehensive care center," across the street from the shuttered SVH. The hospital's main building would be converted into condos.
In this excerpt, members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital, give their take on these latest developments.
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:
Wall St. Journal - "St. Vincent's Deal Stirs Local Opposition"
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/03/10/st-vincents-deal-stirs-local-opposition/
WestView News - "Doctors Warn of Done Deal"
http://tinyurl.com/5to23cy
WNYC- "Emergency Room to Open at St. Vincent's Complex"
http://tinyurl.com/6h7qbds
NY Times - "Immune to Cuts: Lofty Salaries at Hospitals"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/nyregion/16about.html?_r=1&src=mv
Related site:
Coalition for a New Village Hospital - "Rally to Demand a Hospital"
http://demandahospital.blogspot.com/3/10/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the contentious community meeting co-sponsored by... more
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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was hospitalized during a trip to Rome, Italy on Monday, AFP reports.
According to Italian news outlets, the ranking Democrat was reportedly admitted to Umberto I hospital after feeling "slightly unwell" and is undergoing tests.
ABC News reports that the United States Embassy in Rome is aware of reports on Pelosi's condition, but did not comment further. According to the AP, the congresswoman's office in Washington, D.C. repeatedly declined requests to disclose more information on the situation.
NBC News' Luke Russert relayed word on Twitter from Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), who's traveling with the Democratic leader, that she's now back at her hotel and "in good shape."
Pelosi and a small group of House members arrived in Italy on Friday to meet with Italian president Giorgio Napolitano as well as U.S. troops stationed in the country.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/21/nancy-pelosi-hospitalized_n_838367.htmlHouse Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was hospitalized during a trip to Rome, Italy on... more
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2/27/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the closing of Greenwich Village institution, Jesse's Express Cafe. Due to the closing of SVH, Jesse's, which had been in operation for 34 years, experienced an 80 percent drop in business. Neighborhood residents and patrons share their thoughts.
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 article:
DNA Info - "Small Businesses Near St. Vincent's Keep Closing Down"
http://www.dnainfo.com/20110209/manhattan/small-businesses-near-st-vincents-keep-closing-down
NY Times - "For Neighbors, a Hospital's Demise Leaves a Hole"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/nyregion/19metjournal.html2/27/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the closing of Greenwich Village institution,... more
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2/17/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the latest Hands Off St. Vincent's! action, as the activist group travels to Hunter College to stage their own public needs assessment survey and confront the College's president.
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 article:
WestView News - "The Community Needs Assessment Study: West Villagers Speak Out at a Progress Report"
http://tinyurl.com/69dohye
Related clip:
Why Are They Closing St. Vincent's Hospital? (Pt. 15) - Clip 1 - Joint Public Meeting on the Community Health Needs Assessment
http://vimeo.com/184112262/17/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the latest Hands Off St. Vincent's! action,... more
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2/17/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the latest Hands Off St. Vincent's! action, as the activist group travels to Hunter College to stage their own public needs assessment survey and confront the College's president.
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 article:
WestView News - "The Community Needs Assessment Study: West Villagers Speak Out at a Progress Report"
http://tinyurl.com/69dohye
Related clip:
Why Are They Closing St. Vincent's Hospital? (Pt. 15) - Clip 1 - Joint Public Meeting on the Community Health Needs Assessment
http://vimeo.com/184112262/17/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the latest Hands Off St. Vincent's! action,... more
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2/16/11 - The Hedz-Up Report continues its coverage of the community's battle to preserve St.Vincent's legacy w/ its coverage of The Coalition for a New Village Hospital's public forum, "A Year of Loss & Hope: Time for Action!". In this excerpt, Eileen Dunn, R.N. and Dr. David Kaufman provide updates on the Coalition's efforts.
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 article:
NY Post - "You could die waiting in New York hospitals"
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/5tv3arr2/16/11 - The Hedz-Up Report continues its coverage of the community's battle to... more
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2/9/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the release of four community activists the day after their arrest for staging a sit-in at the site of the former St. Vincent's Hospital. All have been charged with criminal trespass.
The activists, a part of the newly-formed group Hands Off St. Vincent's!, released the following statement:
Arrest: Community Activists Arrested at St. Vincents Hospital Sit-In
New York, NY – On February 8, at 10:30 am, four former patients and impassioned community members entered the building at the location of the closed down Saint Vincent's Hospital. These activists then sat on the ground, unfurling a banner reading "Guilty: Neglect!" and began to chant - refusing to move. Saint Vincent's personnel closed off that section of the building - currently operating as a Credit Union - and refused entry to members of the credit union as well as persons employed within the building. Two hours after their arrival, the four activists were arrested and taken away by the police.
For 284 days, 1.3 million New Yorkers have been without a hospital in the West Village. Since St. Vincent’s illegal closure on April 30, 2010, the community has been laden with false promises, patronized with a bogus needs assessment and forced, with tragic consequences, to seek emergency or medical care at already overcrowded uptown or East-side hospitals.
“Everyday that passes is critical,” said Iana Di Bona, one of the arrested activists, “Our elected officials have the ability to turn things around, yet they do nothing. It is so important to speak out and to continue to pressure and hold them accountable to service the needs of our community.”
Commitment for a New Village Hospital by the people of the West Village and all of New York City has not wavered. Any politician not actively working to get a new hospital is a target. That is a promise the St. Vincent’s Hospital Community Activists intend to keep.
www.handsoffstvincents.com
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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 article:
http: //ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-552842
Related video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcToWCh5VhU2/9/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the release of four community activists the day... more
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A Montreal doctor has been suspended and fined $3,000 for filming female patients while they were naked, with a hidden camera.
Quebec's College of Physicians suspended Dr. Barry Rabinovitch for four months, effective Feb. 14.
The professional order says Rabinovitch, a pulmonologist, committed a serious violation which was compounded by the fact that he was in a position of authority.
According to the disciplinary report released by the college's disciplinary committee, Rabinovitch filmed more than a dozen female patients in various stages of undress, over the span of one year.
The reported incidents occurred in 2009 at the Montreal Chest Institute and at the Queen Elizabeth Health Centre.
Rabinovitch admitted to the college that the illicit videos were for his personal gratification.
The 56-year-old is a married father of two children and a lung specialist. He is also an associate professor with McGill University's medical faculty.
The videos were seized by police after an administrator at the Chest Institute filed a complaint with the College of Physicians.
Rabinovitch immediately stopped teaching and seeing patients after that. He also underwent a psychiatric evaluation.
MUHC issues statement
In a statement released Tuesday, MUHC director of professional services, Dr. Ewa Sidorowicz said "every possible measure has been put in place to ensure that our patients are protected."
"Appropriate steps were taken immediately to protect patients and staff as soon as the incident of inappropriate behaviour was reported."
The Montreal Chest Institute is one of several hospitals in the McGill University Health Centre network.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2011/02/15/montreal-chest-institute-doctor-suspended-for-filming-patients-with-secret-camera.html#ixzz1E5niCuG3A Montreal doctor has been suspended and fined $3,000 for filming female patients... more
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PORTLAND, Ore. — The death of a Cuban immigrant just feet from an emergency room has left his family in grief, upset police and drawn a request for an investigation from a congressman, all asking why an officer was told to call the emergency services number for a heart attack victim just outside the hospital door.
Birgilio Marin-Fuentes had driven to Portland Adventist Medical Center shortly after midnight Thursday, unable to sleep or stop coughing, then crashed his car into a pillar and wall inside the first level of the hospital parking garage under an "emergency parking only" sign about 125 feet from the emergency room entrance.
By the time somebody noticed the 61-year-old Cuban immigrant in his car and told a police officer in the emergency room, about 20 minutes had gone by.
Officers Angela Luty and Robert Quick found Marin-Fuentes unconscious and unresponsive and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A third officer, Andrew Hearst, went to the ER intake desk and told them what was happening.
He was told to call emergency services.
"The officers recognized this man needed medical attention immediately, and two officers began CPR immediately, and a third officer went to ask for assistance, and they were told they had to wait until an ambulance arrived," said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.
Judy Leach, a hospital spokeswoman, said emergency room staff was told it was a car crash and they were following the proper protocol by instructing police to summon an ambulance crew.
"With an automobile accident you don't know if the patient needs to be extricated or transported," Leach said Friday. "There are protocols in place to ensure the right thing is done for the right patient at the right time."
She said hospital security officers equipped with a mobile defibrillator were dispatched, and a paramedic went outside to check on the situation.
But Simpson said officers did not receive any medical assistance and were left to fend for themselves until the ambulance arrived and the crew wheeled Marin-Fuentes the short distance to the emergency room aboard a gurney.
"It's a traumatic experience to give CPR and have a person not survive, especially to be that close to a hospital with trained medical personnel right there who could have assisted," Simpson said.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer said Friday he has asked the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to conduct an independent investigation to make sure the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act approved in 1986 was followed.
The act requires all Medicare participating hospitals with emergency departments to treat any critically ill patients on their premises, including parking lots, Blumenauer said.
Blumenauer said he was "deeply concerned" about the way the incident was handled and has been in contact with both national and state hospital associations "to make sure everybody gets their signals straight."
Mark McDougal, a Portland attorney representing the family of Marin-Fuentes, said the family was pleased that Blumenauer has asked for a federal investigation.
"It is particularly disturbing that the hospital has given an account which is directly contradicted by the officers at the scene," McDougal said.
Efforts by The Associated Press to reach the victim's wife, Claudia Luis Garcia, on Friday were unsuccessful.
But she told The Oregonian she believes if she had insisted on driving with her husband to the hospital, he might still be alive.
"They left him to die," Luis Garcia said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41539841/PORTLAND, Ore. — The death of a Cuban immigrant just feet from an emergency room... more
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2/9/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the release of four community activists the day after their arrest for staging a sit-in at the site of the former St. Vincent's Hospital. All have been charged with criminal trespass.
The activists, a part of the newly-formed group Hands Off St. Vincent's!, released the following statement:
Arrest: Community Activists Arrested at St. Vincents Hospital Sit-In
New York, NY – On February 8, at 10:30 am, four former patients and impassioned community members entered the building at the location of the closed down Saint Vincent's Hospital. These activists then sat on the ground, unfurling a banner reading "Guilty: Neglect!" and began to chant - refusing to move. Saint Vincent's personnel closed off that section of the building - currently operating as a Credit Union - and refused entry to members of the credit union as well as persons employed within the building. Two hours after their arrival, the four activists were arrested and taken away by the police.
For 284 days, 1.3 million New Yorkers have been without a hospital in the West Village. Since St. Vincent’s illegal closure on April 30, 2010, the community has been laden with false promises, patronized with a bogus needs assessment and forced, with tragic consequences, to seek emergency or medical care at already overcrowded uptown or East-side hospitals.
“Everyday that passes is critical,” said Iana Di Bona, one of the arrested activists, “Our elected officials have the ability to turn things around, yet they do nothing. It is so important to speak out and to continue to pressure and hold them accountable to service the needs of our community.”
Commitment for a New Village Hospital by the people of the West Village and all of New York City has not wavered. Any politician not actively working to get a new hospital is a target. That is a promise the St. Vincent’s Hospital Community Activists intend to keep.
www.handsoffstvincents.com
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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 article:
http: //www.ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-552842
Related video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcToWCh5VhU2/9/11 - The Hedz-Up Report covers the release of four community activists the day... more
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