By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — Six months after St. Vincent's Hospital closed its doors, campaigners are urging politicians to open another medical center on the site.
Demonstrators Sunday said people have died because the Greenwich Village hospital was shuttered.
"People have died going across town to the hospital," claimed Marisol Miro, who joined hundreds at the protest, organized by the group Coalition for a New Village Hospital.
"They closed the best hospital in the Village."
Since St. Vincent's closed, neighboring hospitals have reported a huge raise in emergency room use. Some staff have said the increase has left health provision in chaos.
Those who gathered Sunday voiced concern about how the valuable piece of real estate will be used.
"We don't need any more condos," she said, echoing a
common chant at the rally. "We need a hospital."
Along with concerned residents, the rally was a gathering point for the medical center's former employees.
"It was really sad," said Janet Gardner, an operating room technician for seven years, as she remembered her last day at work.
She's been searching for another job since.
"We were like a family."