HOBOKEN — The Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority board met Wednesday and took a step – according to City Hall – to look for new buyers for Hoboken’s only hospital.
The city made a point of saying that the step will ensure that Hoboken continues to have an acute care hospital in its borders.
“An ad hoc committee comprised of a diverse group of individuals that represent a broad base of interested constituents, including commissioners, physicians, and hospital staff, is being formed to review the submissions,” said city spokesman Juan Melli.
The hospital has suffered from the same financial issues that other hospitals have across the country, including dealing with inadequate reimbursement from insurance companies as well as from state Charity Care funds. Hoboken’s hospital especially deals with many uninsured patients. Some hospitals, such as Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, are in the process of being sold to private investors rather than remaining in public or non-profit hands. In Secaucus, the investment group that is applying to purchase it has pledged that it will remain an acute care hospital.
Hoboken officials have vowed to ensure the same result.
In Hoboken, some taxpayers have become very concerned about the hospital’s financial status, because the hospital has remained open partly with millions of dollars in city bond funds.
“I congratulate the commissioners for moving us towards the shared goal of ensuring that the hospital remains in Hoboken as a thriving acute care facility that provides valuable services and jobs to our community,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer, an ex officio commissioner, on Friday. “Privatization will bring us one step closer to stabilizing our hospital’s finances and removing Hoboken taxpayers from the $52 million bond guarantee.”
For more on this story, see the print edition of the Hoboken Reporter this weekend. To read our previous articles on the impending hospital sale, click HERE or use the links below.
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