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Village Hospital Coalition Joins Occupy Wall Street Protesters

By Andrea Swalec | October 3, 2011 3:18pm
Coalition for a New Village Hospital has thrown its support behind the Occupy Wall Street protesters, an attorney representing the group announced Oct. 2, 2011.
Coalition for a New Village Hospital has thrown its support behind the Occupy Wall Street protesters, an attorney representing the group announced Oct. 2, 2011.
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Facebook/Coalition for a New Village Hospital

MANHATTAN — The lead group calling for the return of a full-service hospital to Greenwich Village has thrown its support behind the Occupy Wall Street protesters, an attorney representing the group said.

Dozens of members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital demonstrated in lower Manhattan's Zucotti Park Sunday afternoon and brought food to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, coalition lawyer Yetta Kurland said.

"Those of us who are fighting for a hospital in the Village can really relate [to the protesters]," Kurland said. "We have a shared concern about lack of oversight of business interests."

Members of the hospital coalition will demonstrate in the park intermittently, added Kurland, 43, a one-time City Council candidate.

"We have come here today with neighbors, friends and other members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital, including doctors and nurses, to offer our support and stand in solidarity with you, and all who are fighting to protect the public interest," the group said in a statement.

The coalition, which has more than 8,000 members, aims to restore a comprehensive hospital to the Village.

Rudin Management and North Shore-Long Island Jewish Hospital's plan to build a medical complex containing a 24-7 emergency department, full-service imaging center and outpatient surgery facility is currently undergoing community review through the city's public land use procedure.

Eileen Dunn, a coalition member and former St. Vincent's nurse, noted in the statement that anger about the actions of corporations led her to demonstrate.

“For decades we have seen our jobs, our dignity and our healthcare sacrificed at the altar of corporate greed," she said in the statement. "It is time to stand up. It is time to occupy Wall Street. It is time to demand a hospital."