Gov. Phil Murphy (D) committed to keeping all three of CarePoint Health’s Hudson County hospitals open during a media scrum today, stating that he won’t let this area become “a healthcare desert.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“This is something we’re taking very seriously. I would almost venture to say that we’re monitoring this on a minute to minute, certainly an hour to hour, basis. The last thing we can afford, particularly in what is I believe is the most densely populated county in America, the last thing we can afford is a healthcare desert,” Murphy replied to a question from this reporter at Hoboken High School following an unrelated press conference.
“And we’re committed to make sure that won’t happen here. I can’t stand here and tell you the exact construct of how we get through this collectively, and again I want to give the legislators a big shout out for their partnership here.”
He continued that they aren’t only staving to fight off having a healthcare desert, but also the grave possibility of 2,602 total CarePoint employees at the Bayonne Medical Center, Hoboken University Medical Center, and Christ Hospital in Jersey City getting laid off.
“For the good folks who need healthcare and have nowhere else to turn, and the good folks who work in healthcare and put their lives on the line every day, we owe it to both of those communities to make sure we get this right. No crisp answer as to what that looks like, but we’re committed to make sure that neither of those bad eventualities happen.”
A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Health did not return an email this morning seeking specifics on how they would handle Insure Health and/or Hudson Regional Hospital taking over CarePoint hospitals.
Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health, who operates the Jersey City Medical Center, is another option, though it currently does not appear likely that they will end up being involved with CarePoint in any way.
CarePoint’s volunteer nine-member board began preliminary discussions on financial restructuring last month, which may include Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as HCV first reported.
Since then, two of the three mayors where the hospitals are located, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, have appointed themselves to the CarePoint board.
This came right after all CarePoint employees received WARN notice, a state mandated procedure that requires 90-day notice to be given to anyone who might be laid off for a company with over 100 employees.
Also around this time, the Hoboken City Council approved a resolution asking Hudson County and state leaders to to support CarePoint’s “financial restructuring and long-term stability.”
Mr Murphy
This Dr Alejandro Presilla I was employed by CarePoint for 9 years and left for lack of payment
The debt was significant but I have continued supporting the institution when all the Cardiologist have abandoned it
I have told the administration my complete support to the hospital an the community
Please keep supporting the Hospital
Dr Presilla