Wednesday, April 7, 2010

NYC's St. Vincent's Hospital To Close


The Board of Directors of St. Vincent’s – NYC’s last Catholic hospital – voted to shut down operations last night after 160 years due to financial insolvency caused by crushing debt. St. Vincent’s had a fabled history in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan – treating everyone from survivors of the Titanic to many of the East Coast’s earliest AIDS patients.

When I first moved to NYC I lived in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. But I had no idea where any Brooklyn hospitals were located, so when I got sick I took the subway to the Village and went to the emergency room of St. Vincent’s.  St. Vincent’s was also the hospital where my friend Bill died of old age and lung disease – after our harrowing 4-block trip with me riding in the back of a St. Vincent’s ambulance.

I also remember passing by St. Vincent’s on September 11th, 2001 – and wrote about it in my 9/11 remembrance post:
One of my most vivid memories of that day is walking past St. Vincent's hospital - which is a huge hospital and trauma center located a few blocks north of the restaurant. They were in "emergency mode" - with doctors, nurses, etc., posted outside to take care of the incoming wounded. And they were all just standing around, waiting for people who never came. Unreal.

With the closing of St. Clare’s hospital a few years ago (which was conveniently located around the corner from my apartment), the West Side of Manhattan is left with only one Hospital – St. Luke’s-Roosevelt on the Upper West Side.

2 comments:

Joy said...

That's so sad and such a tragedy. Wish that weren't happening.

nitrox11 said...

On one of my first trips to NY my friend spent our last evening in the City there. She had fallen whilst skating in Central Park and fractured her hand - such a 'tourist' injury, I know!

Once she'd been assessed and the staff knew our story they were so kind. They told us she would be in there for about 4 hours, so me and my other friend should leave her in their care. We could go across the road to a bar and they would ensure someone brought her over to us when she was ready. We didn't get to go to the place we had expected that night, but our final evening plans were not totally ruined as we didn't have to spend our last night sitting in their waiting room.

Good memories of some really kind, professional staff.

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