News from nurses -> Braddocks Fights for its Hospital

> Braddocks Fights for its Hospital
>
> by Kay Tillow
>
> http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/77085
>
> Braddock, the home of many a working class battle, now fights to
> save its
> hospital, the best building in town, from the wrecker's ball.
> Braddock,
> Pennsylvania, the site of the US Steel's Edgar Thompson Works, lies
> along
> the north bank of the Monongahela just up the river from Pittsburgh.
>
> Braddock's story is repeated across the country as mills close and
> once
> thriving working class communities are deserted by the hospitals they
> built. The people of Braddock are saying "no" to the gigantic
> University
> of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) as it builds in wealthy areas
> while
> closing the hospitals where they are needed most--Braddock, Aliquippa,
> Southside.
>
> The people of Braddock are fighting back. With the help of the
> Western
> Pennsylvania Coalition for Single-Payer Healthcare they organized
> "Save
> Our Community Hospitals" (SOCH). In an effort to stop the
> demolition they
> are maintaining a vigil at the hospital and seeking legal
> proceedings to
> block it. They won a victory when the demolition was halted by an
> invalid
> permit.
>
> UPMC, an $8 billion corporation, now occupies the former US Steel
> building
> that dominates the Pittsburgh Skyline. In recent years UPMC has
> established itself as a global enterprise with overseas ventures in
> Sicily
> and Ireland. UPMC just announced a $16 million advertising and
> branding
> campaign with a new warm and fuzzy purple logo. It has plenty of
> money to
> keep the Braddock Hospital open.
>
> SOCH urges supporters to call UPMC CEO, Jeffrey Romoff to demand
> that the
> hospital be saved and emergency service be restored to Braddock.
>
> Romoff's number is: 412-647-3555
>
> The passage of HR 676, national single payer health care, would end
> the
> flight of hospitals and health care away from urban centers and hard
> hit
> areas that have lost manufacturing jobs. HR 676 would be publicly
> funded
> making everyone an "equally valuable" patient stopping the economic
> incentives that now close hospitals and physicians offices.
>
> After you call Jeff Romoff, call your congressperson and urge
> co-sponsorship for HR 676.
>
> Further info on the fight in Braddock:
>
> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10281/1093358-109.stm
> http://www.savebraddock.com/
> http://www.wpasinglepayer.org/
> http://bit.ly/b7w7zk
>
> Distributed by:
>
> All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
> c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
> 1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
> Louisville, KY 40217
>
> (502) 636 1551
> Email: nursenpo@aol.com
> http://unionsforsinglepayer.org/
> 10/17/2010