Greed and Politics destroyed St. Vincent's Hospital

"It's like a funeral inside."

New York State Assemblymember Richard Gottfried criticised New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last night, during a town hall meeting of Chelsea and Greenwich Village residents. The mayor, who likes to get involved in issues that are important to New York City, did not participate in trying to save St. Vincent's Hospital, the Hon. Gottfried said.

Separately, as was reported by the Associated Pressin an article published yesterday on The Kansas City Star's website, Mayor Bloomberg was unmoved by attempts to save St. Vincent's.

"It's very sad. I wish the hospital could stay open. But the bottom line is, it's not going to," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday on his weekly radio show.

The same AP report also included the following information :

Since it opened in 1849, the famed Manhattan hospital has treated cholera victims, survivors of the Titanic and hundreds of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. It also was at the forefront of the early response to the AIDS epidemic.

St. Vincent's was the last Catholic-affiliated hospital in New York City. The nearest top-level trauma center is now Bellevue Hospital, more than two miles away.

During a "last mass" inside the hospital's chapel, the former St. Vincent's employees became emotional, the AP added.

"There's a lot of heartbroken people inside the ER. ... They have been the heart and soul of this hospital for many years," said Eileen Dunn, a St. Vincent's nurse for 24 years. "I think on 9/11 we saw what hatred could do. We're seeing today what greed and politics can do to a hospital.

"It's like a funeral inside," she said.