NEWS
Legislators weigh in on proposal to reopen hospital
Englewood and Valley Hospitals are not the only vocal opponents to the reopening of a full service hospital at the Pascack Valley site. Democratic Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson, of Legislative District 37, which includes Englewood, Teaneck, and Hackensack, among other towns, appealed to the governor in August to seriously consider not granting Hackensack’s application for a Certificate of Need. In Weinberg’s opinion, “the reopening would be in direct contradiction to the Reinhardt Commission’s Report.” She asserted in her Aug. 26 letter to Governor Corzine that Hackensack’s efforts to open a 128-bed critical care facility is irrational “during a time of fiscal constraint, reduced charity care payments and in the face of numerous hospital closures occurring throughout New Jersey. “It doesn’t comply with what I would term a ‘rational’ healthcare decision,” she clarified in a phone interview. One of Weinberg’s principal complaints is that HUMC has entered into a partnership with a for-profit company, Legacy Hospital Partners, Inc. “I don’t believe in for-profit health care,” she said. “I don’t believe we should be making a profit on patients in hospitals.” In addition to the threat of turning down charity patients, Weinberg asserts that for-profit hospital ownership leads to a degradation in the quality of care and services. “I believe that we have seen it right here in Bergen County. Bergen Regional was turned over [to a for-profit company]… and it seems to be scoring near the bottom on almost every health report card. The first few years, they cut a lot of staffing to the point where it endangered patients.” While Weinberg is opposed to HUMC’s partnership with Legacy, she stated, “I was not against the original proposal – a medical school and an emergency room. I thought that addressed issues raised by residents in the area. But it’s changed since then. There’s a whole different proposal than what it started out to be. This has morphed into something very different.” She asked Corzine to consider conducting a CHAPA (Community Healthcare Assets Protection Act) review of HUMC’s purchase of the site, taking into consideration Legacy’s investment in the hospital. CHAPA reviews are usually conducted when a hospital license is transferred, but one has not been conducted in this case. Weinberg said she has yet to receive a response from the governor’s office on the matter. Weinberg is also unsettled by the fact that HUMC North will not employee a unionized staff. Although HUMC’s existing campus does not have unionized workers either, Weinberg said that Englewood Hospital does have a unionized staff and should be commended for that. She doesn’t believe that the state should authorize the opening of a for-profit hospital with non-union workers to the detriment of a non-profit hospital with a unionized staff. “Because Englewood is one of the few hospitals in this area that has union representation, they have better retirement and health care than other places… Because of that, their costs might be a little higher… but in the long range it’s better for employees and the state.” The bottom line, she said, is that history has shown that PVH needed to close, and its closing has helped, rather than hurt, the community and other hospitals operating within the community. “The fact is that the hospital has been closed for a number of months. Prior to closing, it had a number of empty beds because people were bypassing the hospital for other area hospitals. [The closing] helped those other hospitals gain some financial footing.” Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk, a Republican representing District 39, which includes the Pascack and Northern valleys, expressed a totally different sentiment. She, like most local politicians, wholeheartedly supports the reopening of a full-service hospital at the site. “I think it’s a necessary thing for the community,” she said in a phone interview. Vandervalk believes that those who are opposed to the addition of 128 new beds to the local hospital market “have to understand how strongly the people in the neighborhood feel. It’s truly a life and death matter.” Vandervalk also said that though she knows little about Legacy, other than what she learned from a public presentation made by the company’s principals, she is comfortable with HUMC’s partnership with the private equity firm. “If Hackensack has accepted them as a partner, then I will respect them too, because I have a lot of respect for Hackensack.” She pointed out that while much is being made of the rarity of for-profit hospitals in this region, it is not totally out of the ordinary elsewhere. “It is not the norm for around here but it happens all around the country. We have no reason to believe [anything] other than to have the highest expectations.” In her opinion the positives of reopening the hospital far outweigh any drawbacks. “Hackensack is providing new services that weren’t available before… They always provided new services geared to a specific population or medical condition and they will continue to do that. That will not take business away from area hospitals, because it will be different types of services.” Karen F. Mrnarevic's e-mail address is Mrnarevic@northjersey.com.
This article originally appeared in Pascack Valley Community Life. Original Article is located here