A petition to keep Heights University Hospital Open was delivered to Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) today with over 1,500 signatures, Hudson Regional Health CEO Dr. Nizar Kifaieh announced.
By John Heinis Hudson County View
“Immediate funding from Governor Murphy and the state is the only viable path for our hospital to survive,” Kifaieh said in a statement.
“I thank our essential employees, who deliver lifesaving care each and every day to our patients, for making their voices heard to the Governor that closure can be avoided with the emergency funding we have desperately requested. We are asking him to urgently act, without delay, to save our hospital.”
The petition, initiated and signed by essential workers, nurses, doctors, support staff, and neighborhood residents, is a direct and urgent plea for the emergency funding needed to sustain operations.
The petition highlighted that the hospital is a lifeline for thousands of vulnerable residents, including seniors, Medicaid recipients, the uninsured, and low-income families across Hudson County, who have no other options to receive quality, localized healthcare.
At the end of September, state Senator Raj Mukherji (D-32) announced that he and state Senator Brian Stack (D-33) would introduce a bill seeking $25 million for Heights University Hospital, formerly Christ Hospital, as HCV first reported.
Since then, state Senator Angela McKnight has signed onto the bill, with outgoing Assemblyman John Allen (D-32) signing onto the complementary bill in the lower chamber.
The state legislation quickly came about after Hudson Regional Health CEO Dr. Nizar Kifaieh revealed on September 26th that they were going to cancel non-essential services at Heights University Hospital within 30 days.
Politicos and hospital staff held a rally at the Jersey City Heights hospital on Wednesday afternoon, with Hudson County Board of Commissioners Chair Anthony Romano (D-5) and Allen being the two elected officials from Hoboken.
In light of union leadership expressing concerns about layoffs, the New Jersey Department of Health indicated on September 29th that “HRH cannot simply close a hospital overnight” since there is a comprehensive process, as HCV exclusively reported.
The full text of the petition is as follows:
As essential healthcare workers, nothing in the world means more to us than providing the quality care that residents of Jersey City and Hudson County deserve, and we do so each and every day.
Now, Heights University Hospital (formerly Christ Hospital), is at a very real risk of closure and we need you – our elected representatives to back-up our commitment to our community with a commitment of your own: to sustain the availability and quality of healthcare in the region.
A host of problems, issues and challenges beyond our control has resulted in losses of over $1.5 million per week that render the most vulnerable in our region – especially those who have lost Medicare coverage, seniors, and those without health insurance – with nowhere to go for healthcare.
By this petition, we proclaim this perilous situation unacceptable, and we urge you to lift the issue of securing the necessary funding to save Heights University Hospital to the highest of your priorities.
Thank you,
HRH Employees and Community
How can a city of 300,000 people have only 1 hospital left if Christ closes?? We had 4 hospitals 30 years ago. Come up with the money Murphy. It’s a fraction of what the idiot Democrats spend on the illegals.