Will March Seven Miles Carrying Caskets and Hold Funeral for Sarai Rodriguez
CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–August 10, 2013. In response to the death of Sarai Rodriguez, former Hunger Strikers, patients, loved ones, family and community supporters will gather at 3442 W 26th St on Sunday at 2:00 PM. They will march to Northwestern Memorial Hospital carrying caskets with the names of Sarai Rodriguez and other patients currently needing organ transplants who have been denied care by hospitals because they are undocumented and uninsured. The community will then hold a funeral ceremony and occupy the public space in front of Northwestern Memorial Hospital all night Sunday and all day Monday. “I ask the community to join us in confronting, because I blame Northwestern Memorial Hospital for the death of my daughter” stated Victoria Rodriguez, the mother of Sarai Rodriguez.
Background:
On July 29, twenty people went on hunger strike because local hospitals refuse to place undocumented and uninsured people on transplant waiting lists. Hunger Strikers included patients and loved ones. After a series of meetings with hospital administrators at UIC Medical Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Christ Advocate, the hunger strike ended on the 11th day with promises that negotiations will continue. “We know the hospitals have started negotiations, but so far all we have is vague promises, nothing in writing, no guarantees, no policy changes” stated Father Jose Landaverde, an organizer of the Hunger Strike. “Meanwhile, our people are dying. Hospital administrators and politicians bury us in false promises and bureaucracy, and they expect us to die quietly” he stated.
Last week, the Hunger Strikers accused that Northwestern’s $1.4 billion revenue last year, and their discriminatory policy of taking organs from the undocumented but refusing to give them transplants because they cannot pay, amounts to a form of human trafficking. They also accused Northwestern of refusing care to members of other marginalized groups as well, including the poor and the elderly. They were not successful at securing a meeting with the hospital’s CEO Dean Harrison, who made a salary of almost $10 million in 2010 and ranked as the highest-paid CEO of any hospital in the US — almost as high as the CEO of Chase Bank.
Although the hunger strike has ended, the fight for access to healthcare continues.
Scheduled Events for Sunday, August 11
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- Where: Gather at Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission, 3442 W 26th St.
- Procession to Northwest Memorial Hospital, 201 E Huron
- When: Sunday, August 11, 2:00 PM. Arriving at Northwestern Memorial at 7PM, and spending the night
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Previous Press Releases:
8.9.13: Friday, Hunger Striker Sarai Passes Away; Families Blame NMH | http://pastebin.com/JE2GRdi7
8.7.13: Hunger Strikers Relocate to Christ Advocate Medical Center | http://pastebin.com/Vm6DcUCF
8.8.13: Hunger Strikers Update on Negotiations with Hospitals | http://pastebin.com/H1gAaJ9D
8.5.13: Northwestern Memorial Hospital Says Undocumented Patients Can Be Added to Transplant List | http://pastebin.com/HvB6hh7P
