In a letter to the editor, Greenville Health Access Executive Director Demetrius Terry is urging the State Department of Health to approve additional satellite emergency departments for CarePoint Health.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Dear Editor,
In light of the reported State approval of an unneeded Satellite Emergency Department (SED) by Barnabas Health, it is time that the State Department of Health approve additional SEDs proposed by CarePoint Health.
CarePoint’s proposed investment in Greenville and Downtown Jersey City will be a huge step forward in providing care to individuals in this city who live far from primary and emergency healthcare access or whose only options for care are the overcrowded emergency rooms in our city’s hospitals.
CarePoint also proposes to offer free primary and specialty care at its planned Greenville and Union City Neighborhood Health Centers (NHC).
These SEDs and NHCs are a vital first step in restoring community healthcare services sorely lacking since Jersey City Medical Center closed Greenville Hospital in 2008.
The DOH has instituted a new paradigm in the state’s healthcare marketplace and it is our hope that it is based on commitment to increase access points to healthcare services.
As such, we would hope that the Department’s recent action will be followed by an expeditious approval of additional sites like those CarePoint proposes to open.
If the State Department of Health cares so much about access to care, they should start working on the real problem and approve planned SEDs in Greenville and Downtown.
Demetrius Terry
Executive Director Greenville Health Access
