March 13, 2012 Report.
A meeting was held today at City Hall with Christine Quinn in her two roles, Speaker and leader of the 51 member New York
Civil Rights lawyer, Norman Siegel, arranged the meeting with the Speaker’s office as an open forum to discuss current happenings surrounding the Rudin-St. Vincent’s ULURP process and the growing community concerns arising in the aftermath of the hospital closing. Attending the meeting were activist members of the Demand a Hospital and Hands Off St. Vincent’s groups, Timothy Lunceford, Barbara Ruether and artist activist blogger, Suzannah B. Troy. (Folks, a note from Suzannah Troy. I got this meeting by yelling Quinn down on the street. An issue I brought up in this scream fest was that a 75 year old man past out and the ambulance took 35 minutes...remember that and stay tuned.)
The interchange between Speaker Quinn and the community representatives was cordial and informative. Camera and recording were not allowed and lasted about 45 minutes.
NYC FDNY/EMS Response and Delivery Time
Speaker Quinn stated that she would obtain and forward the information about ambulance pick up and arrival times since the closure of St. Vincent ’s Hospital. This information was promised at a meeting by the FDNY on July 20, 2011 The meeting is also on video tape. Repeated requests have been denied. Such information is critical for the community residents to assess the status of access to services since the hospital closed.
Speaker Quinn’s History
Speaker Quinn stated that she wanted to assure that her record in the fight to save St.Vincent’s Hospital were clearly known. She will provide a detailed timeline document showing her specific efforts. Ms. Quinn said these efforts included Governor Patterson’s temporary salary support for employees, searching for other hospitals to take over. Ms. Quinn said the death knell was 1) when an East side hospital found that the residency training program had been cancelled for SVH and 2) the coffin nailed shut by GE Capital’s to hold a hard line for the $800,000 debt owed.
Then Speaker Quinn stated: She knows that the closing of St. Vincent ’s will go down as her biggest career failure that will follow her for the rest of her life.
March 6 Public Hearing:
Why was there inadequate space for the number of people waiting to get into the hearing with such long waiting times that people left were unable to wait in the cold while others had preferential access?
Ms. Quinn stated her announcements for the March 6 2012 hearing all clearly said 9:30 a.m. We never encouraged anyone to come early as it is the policy to admit only at the stated time.
The impression received was that the Speaker’s office did not consider it appropriate or helpful for the community activists’ posting public encouragement to arrive as early as 7:30 a.m. One person who arrived at 6: OO a.m. was left to stand in line while other arriving after him were signed in and entered. (Name will be provided upon request).
Why was more space not available for this historic meeting and the large numbers anticipated to attend?
Ms. Quinn stated that the Council Chambers room was under renovation and that the required video and audio equipment was not in service.
Speaker Quinn stated that the space provided was adequate and that she had heard no problems about accommodations or about the elderly and disabled in the rooms that day. The community does not accept this position.
Timothy Lunceford had information that some of the guards had suggested that people in line could assign one person to represent their group to get into the hearing and then send the others home.
The 911 incident
The incident reporting that an individual had collapsed outside the hearing and a delay in response to a 911 call made was discussed. A staff person stated that records for that day had been researched and none were found for this event. It is unclear what happened .Susannah B. Troy said she would provide a copy of the police report to Speaker Quinn’s office that she had obtained about this incident. It is agreed that there is confusion if more than one incident occurred outside 250 Broadway that day. The name and full details of the person known to be the subject of the 911 call will be sought and sent to the Speaker’s office as soon as possible.
Speaker Quinn will follow-up on the confusion about the roles of specific guards and others on duty responsible for maintaining order on March 6.
Can Access to Hearings for the Public be improved?
Mr. Siegel asked if the policies for access could be made fairer by allotting and designating specific areas/sections for the opposing sides on an issue. . Speaker Quinn said she would take this suggestion for fairer public access under advisement.
Speaker Quinn stressed that the members of the community do not necessarily have to attend and could always submit written testimony or statements.
Mr. Siegel observed that it is generally known and agreed, that many individuals are not comfortable with writing but will readily come to make a verbal statement. Because of this preference, space accommodations are important to encourage the fullest community participation in the public sphere as possible.
What is her position on the current Rudin-SVH ULURP?
Speaker Quinn stated “I have not made up my mind yet”.
Will there be an effort to include adding floors to the O’Toole Building to bring a hospital facility back to the community.
This is not under consideration at this time
How is the community coping now?
The community is aware and has serious concerns, especially because of the lack of a Trauma I center and the lack of pediatric specialties and fragmented care. These include the untimely death of a young man well known to the community in the Fulton Houses. AIDs patients have been forced to seek care all over the City. Additionally, there is the Chelsea
Speaker Quinn said she is concerned about the health care needs of the community, and feels that follow-up needs to be done to the NorthShore/LIJ Community Assessment done earlier.
It was agreed that the community will continue to fight for a hospital/trauma center/er until one is in place on the West Side of Manhattan.
A request was made to the Speaker to hold a Town Hall meeting about the loss of St. Vincents , the Rudin plan and the need for a community hospital. The Speaker said she would consider it.
http://mayorbloombergkingofnewyork.blogspot.com/2012/03/christine-quinn-city-hall-meeting-w.html Suzannah: quick note after meeting.
