OWS Teach-In at St. Vincent's

OWS and the Coalition for a New Village Hospital are joining forces to protest the St. Vincent's remodel.

Members of the 99% are up in arms today about the planned renovation of St. Vincent's Hospital. The hospital was closed last year as a result of insurmountable debt. Since then the Rudin Management group has renovated much of the space and is expected to put their new luxury condos on the market this fall.

At 4pm today OWS will take to the streets an march to St. Vincent's for a "teach-in" in protest of the condo-fication. The march will leave from OWS headquarters--Zuccotti Park--where protesters will start by sharing personal struggles with the healthcare system. The march will continue on towards St. Vincent's making stops at health insurance companies to protest on the way.

The protest will move to Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield at One Liberty Plaza just outside Zuccotti Park. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield is a subsidiary of WellPoint and the largest publicly traded health insurance company.

At 5:30 p.m. the group will move to WellCare at 110 5th Ave to protest the for-profit company that administers Medicaid and Medicare Advantage Programs. Wellcare is currently being investigated for fraud with estimates that the company illegally siphoned $400 to $600 million from state health insurance programs.

The march will make its final stop at St. Vincent's where it will meet up with members of the Coalition for a New Village Hospital for the teach-in. Members of both groups will occupy the area and spread knowledge about the US healthcare industry as well as protest the closing and sale of the hospital.

OWS and the Coalition for a New Village Hospital invite anyone and everyone to join in the fight, "Don't allow our hospital to be turned into luxury Condos for the 1%. Stand Up. Fight Back. Teach In."

By McCamey Lynn