HOBOKEN – The public will have a formal opportunity to sound off on the pending sale of the municipally owned Hoboken University Medical Center to a group that also owns Bayonne Medical Center, known as HUMC Holdco, LLC. The hearing, held by the State Health Department, is scheduled for July 21, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Our Lady of Grace Church, 422 Willow Ave.
The city voted in 2007 to save the hospital from impending closure by guaranteeing $52 million in bonds for the hospital to survive, meaning that if the hospital were to close, the taxpayers would be responsible for the $52 million guarantee. Mayor Dawn Zimmer, who serves on the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority, urged supporters to come out and support the sale, calling it “an enormous win for all of our residents.”
“Without this sale the hospital will close,” Zimmer said in a letter to her supporters. “The financial situation at the hospital is severe, and there is no time to negotiate another deal.”
The deal totals approximately $92 million.
In Bayonne, the owners took a controversial route by canceling insurance contracts when they took over Bayonne Medical Center, in order to renegotiate them. The move confused patients, but the hospital ultimately became profitable.
Documents from the negotiations reveal they may take the same route in Hoboken (read about it HERE), but Zimmer has said that HUMC Holdco owning two hospitals in Hudson County would give them leverage in their negotiations with insurance companies.
Zimmer has been adamant about the importance of selling the hospital, which she has advocated for seemingly throughout her entire term as mayor.
Councilwoman Beth Mason, a political opponent of Zimmer, has concerns about the sale, noting that the terms of the contract indicate that the new owners will keep a minimum of 75 percent of the hospital workforce. She wants them to keep more.
Under the terms of the deal, the hospital would remain as a healthcare facility for a minimum of seven years. Mason was concerned with that aspect of the agreement, alleging that the new owners are interested in “future real estate development.”
Both politicians invited the public to come and speak about the sale on Thursday night.
For much more coverage, keep watching HudsonReporter.com and make sure to pick up a copy of The Hoboken Reporter this weekend. — Ray Smith
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