Sanders protests planned Philadelphia hospital closure as example of corporate greed

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday attacked the pending closure of a Philadelphia hospital as an example of corporate greed taking priority over people’s health.

During a rally to save the 171-year-old Hahnemann University Hospital from bankruptcy, Sanders said his “Medicare for All” plan would guarantee healthcare to every American and save them from corporations that are just seeking to make a profit. 

“At a time when our country faces a major healthcare crisis … we must be moving forward toward guaranteeing healthcare to all people as a right,” Sanders said.{mosads}

“This is not a complicated issue. Providing healthcare to the sick, the elderly, the vulnerable … is more important than huge profits for an investment banker,” Sanders said. “As all of you know, the possible closing of Hahnemann has nothing to do with health care, it has everything to do with greed.”

Sanders said he stands with the unions of nurses and doctors, and praised the work they have been doing to keep the hospital open. Sanders said he will be introducing a bill in the Senate to provide a $20 billion “emergency fund” that will allow states and communities to purchase financially struggling hospitals in order to keep them open.

If the hospital closes, thousands of jobs are predicted to be lost. The hospital stopped all non-emergency surgeries and procedures, including child deliveries, late last week.

The Philadelphia rally occurred the same day Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden unveiled his health care plan.

Biden has often criticized Medicare for All, and his plan aims to presents voters with an alternative. On Monday, he cast Medicare for All as essentially the same as GOP efforts to repeal ObamaCare. 

Biden proposed shoring up ObamaCare’s subsidies to help more people afford coverage, and augmenting it with a Medicare public option.

Sanders is also planning to give a health care speech in Washington on Wednesday.