Hoboken University Medical Center is looking at laying off employees and cutting services in the near future to stay afloat, according to the hospital’s January newsletter.
The document leads off: “As Harvey Holzberg told everyone this week, Hoboken UMC may have to join the legions of hospitals across the nation, around the state, and up the block in making painful cuts to staff and services in order to remain fiscally stable during this global recession.”
Joan Quigley, vice president of external affairs, said Thursday afternoon that the hospital alerted employees but has yet to make any final decisions.
However, another source from the hospital confirmed that layoffs are imminent.
Quigley said the hospital has been feeling the effects of a downtu rned economy, but was not experiencing significant losses.
City Councilwoman Beth Mason has been requesting a copy of the general ledger of the hospital for some time now, even engaging in a lawsuit to get financial information. The hospital was forced to provide Mason with a copy some time ago, but according to Mason, the hospital said the cost to produce a copy and redact all of the confidential patient information would cost $9,000.
Mason said she requested a digital copy, but the hospital said they could not easily redact all of the confidential information. The cost of the copy has been reduced to $2,000, but Mason has yet to accept the offer or see the document.
Mason said she did review an official hospital status report from October that said they were running at a deficit of $2.2 million.