We have a really important ask this week: a picket at Hahnemann University Hospital on Thursday morning at 11:30 am. Philly DSA will be standing with Hahnemann hospital workers, nurses, doctors, and PASNAP and 32BJ SEIU members to rally against the threatened closure of the hospital. Senator Nina Turner will be there on behalf of the Bernie Sanders campaign (Sanders himself has given several statements about Hahnemann and is using his campaign to do turnout for Thursday’s rally) as well as Philly DSA-endorsed PA State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler and other local unions and allied activist groups.
The closure of Hahnemann will be, if we’re unable to prevent it, a tragedy of the type we see far too often in the United States. The villains are who you’d expect: wealthy bankers and CEOs hell-bent on destroying good union jobs and transferring wealth from the public into their own pockets. The victims are the residents of North Philadelphia who depend on Hahnemann for their health and well-being: working-class people, many people of color, far too many uninsured or underinsured and therefore worth less than nothing to these vultures because they “are not contributing positively to the hospital bottom line.”
The individual who stripped Hahnemann for parts and ran it into the ground was one Joel Freedman, a California investment banker and the chairman, owner, and founder of first Paladin Healthcare Capital and then American Academic Health System, LLC and also Avanti Hospitals, LLC, where he was sued for “corporate malfeasance” by his former CEO (the company was later found guilty of paying illegal kickbacks for patient referrals and settled that suit for $8.1 million). Paladin was last seen doing basically the same thing to Howard University Hospital in D.C.; they stepped in because the hospital was losing money, then cut staff and underfunded key services, leaving the hospital, according to the Washington Post, in “severe crisis.” Many, including PASNAP’s Samir Sonti and the Philadelphia Business Journal, suspect Freedman is set to now make a profit on the “amazing location” at which the hospital is located, which is already being eyed greedily by local real estate developers. He’s also on the advisory board at the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, a USC-affiliated research center that seeks to ensure “consumers are protected and providers are appropriately compensated without distorting the market.”
But the problem isn’t individual bad actors (or rather it’s not just individual bad actors); people like Freedman and companies like Paladin Healthcare Capital are the natural consequences of a for-profit healthcare system that treats our wellbeing as secondary to their bottom line. It’s all down to the same backwards market incentives, the ones that DSA has been campaigning for years to eliminate by passing Medicare for All. That’s why we’ll be at Hahnemann on Thursday and we hope you’ll come, too, because Hahnemann (if it does close) won’t be the first hospital to have been shut down like this, and without radical systemic change, it won’t be the last.
Help Send Our Delegates to the National Convention
Hey, it’s the fundraiser again. Philly DSA is sending twenty-five (25) delegates to this year’s National Convention.
We’ve run one fundraiser already, and we’re planning another (a comedy show on July 13), but in the meantime, consider making a donation via this link. Money raised will offset registration, travel, and accommodations costs for our delegates. We want to keep their out-of-pocket expenses as low as possible. Donate if you can, share if you can’t, and solidarity forever.
If your union does something cool between bulletins, let us know on Facebook or Twitter!
Save Hahnemann Rally with the Bernie 2020 Team
Thursday, July 11 | 11:30 am | Hahnemann University Hospital | 230 N Broad Street
Shut Down Berks Coalition: Lights for Liberty Philadelphia March
Friday, July 12 | 11:30 am | Meet at 12th & Arch
Comedy Fundraiser: Help Send Our Delegates to the DSA Convention
Saturday, July 13 | 8:00 pm | Panorama Philly | 5213 Grays Ave, Room 228
Summer Night School: Capital
Tuesday, July 16 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm | First Unitarian Church | 2125 Chestnut St
West Philly Happy Hour
Wednesday, July 17 | 7:00 pm | Dahlak Paradise | 4708 Baltimore Ave
RSVP for Details
Marxism and Politics Summer Lecture Series: Dan Lutz on Socialist Planning
Monday, July 22 | 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm | First Unitarian Church, Parish Room | 2125 Chestnut St
Marxism and Politics Summer Lecture Series: Adaner Usmani
Monday, July 29 | 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm | First Unitarian Church, Parish Room | 2125 Chestnut St
Summer Night School: Power
Tuesday, July 30 | 7:00 pm | Susan B. Anthony Room, First Unitarian Church | 2125 Chestnut Street
DSA 2019 National Convention
Saturday, August 3 | Atlanta, GA | Help Philly DSA’s Delegates get there by contributing to our fundraiser!
Bernie 2020 Canvass
Saturday, August 17 | 12:00 - 4:30 pm | Location TBD
Host a Canvass!
The Philly DSA Canvassing Committee will be running smaller, shorter weeknight and weekend canvasses out of members' homes and in order to do this, we need people to volunteer their houses and apartments as launch locations! Please email Vicki at [email protected] with any questions. If you're interested in hosting, please fill out the form below:
Host a Canvass
Member Surveys: Childcare
At our November 2018 General Meeting, the local established a childcare committee in order to implement more consistent childcare practices for the organization. The committee has prepared an initial survey to assess member needs and interests in order to guide their work. Please take a moment to fill out the survey:
Childcare Survey
Committee & Branch Meetings
Steering // Outreach // Pol Ed // OCOS // Social // Canvassing // Policy // Labor // Housing // Childcare // Diversity & Engagement // DelCo // BuxMont
Support 👏 Philly 👏 DSA 👏!
Local Dues - support our campaign work and cover everyday operating costs like meeting space // Contribute to Philly DSA PAC - help fund our independent electoral campaigns // Accommodations, Accessibility, Childcare - let us know what you need to stay involved // Moved away from Philly? - update your address on the DSA national database.
In Solidarity,
Philly DSA Bulletin Team
Inquiries | Website
Isn’t it time to do something? Get involved with the Local.
