Two dozen toga-wearing protesters retold the story of the assassination of Julius Caesar outside UPMC's Downtown headquarters on Monday.

Except the role of victims was given to community hospitals.

The nonprofit group Save Our Community Hospitals is seeking to force UPMC to reopen its Braddock facility, which was closed Jan. 31. Organizers chose the Ides of March -- March 15, the date Caesar was murdered in Rome in 44 B.C. -- to stage their protest.

"UPMC is on a killing spree against the region's community hospitals," protester Michael Stout said. "Aliquippa, South Side, Braddock ... McKeesport, you are next."

Aliquippa and Braddock are former UPMC affiliates that have been shut down, while the former South Side hospital has been converted into UPMC Mercy South Side Outpatient Center.

UPMC has said it has no plans to shutter its McKeesport unit.

People opposed to the closing of Braddock's landmark hospital have launched legal challenges and organized demonstrations both in Braddock and outside UPMC's headquarters at Grant Street and Sixth Avenue.

Monday's protesters carried signs that said "Shame on UPMC" and "UPMC is full of money."

Between the scenes, participants chanted "Any way, any how, Braddock needs emergency health care now" and "Can't you see? You can't trust UPMC."

Mr. Stout played an aide to the assassin Brutus. Brutus, played by David Hughes, wore a sign identifying him as Jeffrey Romoff, UPMC's president.

UPMC officials could not be reached for comment about the protest.

While they would like to see Braddock reopen as a full-service hospital, several protesters said they also would favor opening an emergency room as a compromise. But they said they remained suspicious of any promises made by the medical giant.

"UPMC is not negotiating honorably," said the Rev. James McDonald, head of the Greater Braddock Ministerial Association. "They don't want competition."

Allegheny County and UPMC have proposed a plan to demolish the Braddock hospital building and replace it with new structures that would provide housing for senior citizens, space for doctors' offices and classrooms for job training.

Leaders of the Save Our Community Hospitals campaign and borough council have rejected any plans that involve demolition of the building.

Tony Buba, one of the organizers of Monday's event, said protesters would be back on April 15 -- the deadline for filing most personal and business federal income tax forms. That date was chosen to call attention to UPMC's tax-advantaged status as a non-profit institution, which means it has social responsibilities to the communities it serves, he said.

Protester Steffi Domike introduced the street-theater production as "a morality play for our time ... the issue is access to health care."

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