After Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop did so on Wednesday, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla is joining the volunteer CarePoint Health board ahead of Monday’s meeting.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“While I have the utmost confidence in my appointee to the CarePoint board, and have had several discussions with CarePoint leadership, there is a substantial breakdown in communication among hospital leadership, the board, and elected officials,” Bhalla said in a statement.
“There is a need for greater transparency and by joining the board, I will be directly involved in discussions about the operation of the hospital, so that I can strongly and effectively advocate for the residents I represent. My utmost priority is to ensure the health and safety of residents and make certain that Hoboken University Medical Center and the CarePoint system remain open and fully operational to provide the essential medical care my community relies on.”
His decision follows last week’s vote by the CarePoint board to explore financial restructuring options, which may include bankruptcy.
As part of this process, WARN notices were recently issued to all employees at HUMC, Christ Hospital, and Bayonne Medical Center (2,602 in total), giving them 90 days notice of potential layoffs.
Fulop, also a Democratic candidate for governor, told HCV he was joining the board to ensure the best possible outcome for Jersey City after the city’s representative, Jason Thomas, resigned.
Bhalla echoed that sentiment, noting that he’s aiming to provide the Mile Square City with greater insight and to strengthen the flow of information between the New Jersey Department of Health, CarePoint leadership, the board, and elected officials.
At Wednesday’s Hoboken City Council meeting, the board unanimously approved (9-0) an emergency resolution calling on state and county leadership to support CarePoint’s three hospitals: the Bayonne Medical Center, Hoboken University Medical Center, and Christ Hospital in Jersey City.
Fulop was key in getting CarePoint and Hudson Regional Hospital to announce a partnership in January to form Hudson Health System. However, HRH has since sued CarePoint for not following through on the agreement and that court matter is still pending.
At essentially the same time the HHS concept was announced, the NJDOH indicated they had placed a financial monitor to oversee CarePoint’s hospitals.
CarePoint has also said that there is currently no scenario where any of their hospitals would close, a notion Fulop has pushed back on.
