SECAUCUS AND BEYOND — A for-profit corporation is one step closer to buying Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center, located in Secaucus.
The New Jersey Dept. of Health and Senior Services has stated that the application submitted by the company is complete and all of the agency’s questions regarding the sale have been satisfied.
The Dept. of Health and Senior Services is one of several state agencies that must approve the deal before the sale is finalized.
The hospital, located on Meadowlands Parkway, is currently owned by Liberty Healthcare, a nonprofit that also owns Jersey City Medical Center.
If the sale is approved, the hospital will be sold to MHA, LLC, a little-known for-profit corporation of private investors.
In a brief letter dated August 5, the Sept. of Health and Senior Services stated: “The referenced Certificate of Need application for the transfer of ownership of Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center from Liberty Healthcare System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, to MHA, LLC, a New Jersey limited
liability company was received by the Dept. of Health and Senior Services on February 1, 2010. Additional information was requested and received in this office on April 15, 2010 and June 11, 2010. Based on a review of the documentation, the above referenced Certificate of Need application has been deemed complete.”
The likely sale of Meadowlands from a nonprofit entity to a for-profit company has been controversial since the sale was announced in February. The nurses union has also criticized MHA executives for refusing to give specifics on staffing at the hospital once the sale is complete.
But MHA spokespeople have countered for months that the hospital is in danger of closing if the sale falls through.
Members of the community will have an opportunity to speak out on the sale on Thursday, August 26 at a public hearing scheduled to take place at Secaucus High School, located at 11 Millridge road. The hearing will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. — E. Assata Wright
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