<nettime> Death of a Hospital

[Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>]

Death of a Hospital

Today we went to the LICH, Long Island College Hospital, for
neurology issues. The hospital is being closed down so developers
can build condominiums there. In our area there are seven 30+
storey buildings, condominiums scheduled for the next few years.
Current condos go for around $700,000 for a one bedroom. The
hospital has been the scene of protests in recent months; it
serves a large number of neighborhoods and in particular seems to
serve minorities. Patients were removed and sent elsewhere. An
emergency vehicle was turned away as the emergency rooms were
closed down, and someone died on the forty-five minute trip to the
nearest still-functioning place. A mayoral candidate was arrested
along with doctors and others a week or two ago. When we went,
there were, now, security guards everywhere, to make sure there
were no more protests. We were escorted to neurology by one of
them. They were on the street, they were guarding everything. A
receptionist was crying. Our doctor told us how he felt when his
bag and belongings were searched as he reported for duty. They
have maybe a month to clear out. The developers say they're
"beautifying" the waterfront. The hospital is beautiful, with
trees and gardens. The guards looked like thugs with military
haircuts. Some of them had the word "Summit" on their uniforms.
Their uniforms were black. I cannot describe the horror of all of
this - after the Barclay Center was built through subterfuge and
lies, including seizing buildings by eminent domain and declaring
the neighborhood "blighted" (which it wasn't) - now this.
Healthcare is collapsing in NYC; this is the second hospital I
know to shut down. LICH has been around for 155 years. There are
no really close-by others, and to get to others, you now have to
negotiate traffic jams created by the Barclay Center over a mile
away. LICH doesn't make a profit - it loses I think around 15
million a year. Since when is healthcare supposed to make a
profit? We are now at the bottom of developed countries in terms
of healthcare - there was a long report about this online. The
US idea of healthcare is increasingly moving in two directions -
every nicety and technological advance for the rich - and back-
breaking financial burdens for the rest of us. Obamacare doesn't
change this that much and it will probably be defeated anyway. The
horror of people I know struggling to stay alive in the US is
unimaginable. People are dying, are been driven into poverty, as a
result of greed. There's no way out. I wish these developers will
all get sick, unbearably, unbelievably, sick, sick to the point of
death - and beyond - and that they lose all their money and have
to get in lines for emergency care or be turned away at the door.
I wish them hell. They make live miserable for the rest of us. I
hope they go up in flames in this life because I sure don't
believe in hell.


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