St. Vincent's Hospital in the 'Plague Years'

Research and writing of a book on St. Vincent's Hospital, one of New York City's battlegrounds during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s of 1990s.

Based on scores of interviews and extensive archival research, this is a narrative nonfiction book about New York City's St. Vincent's Hospital at the height of the AIDS crisis (roughly 1980 to 1996). It follows physicians, nurses, administrators, social workers, and patients and their loved ones, to bring readers inside the AIDS units' day-to-day routines, relentless agonies, developing protocols for care, and special culture. It tells a story of both immense loss and astonishing achievement as caregivers rise to a frightful occasion, often pressured and tutored by activists. The story unfolds in the context of intense – and still persistent – conflicts over the commodification of America's healthcare system, the role of religion in public life, the impact of gentrification, and the question of who can truly be embraced within American ideals of equality and inclusion.