SECAUCUS AND BEYOND — The owners of the recently-criticized Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus gave a reporter a tour last week of the facilities, pointing out a new OR waiting room and a successful program to treat brain injuries. But at the same time, they blasted the previous owners of the hospital, saying they “cannibalized” the facility before selling it last year, and also said the hospital workers’ union was behaving as a “malignant, cancerous” group.
The reactions came after a 25-page state report outlined deficiencies in the facility, which was sold to a private for-profit company last year. The new owners had 10 days from the report became public to respond to the state, which investigated after the hospital workers’ union made complaints.
Last week, hospital owners Dr. Richard Lipsky and Tamara Dunaev claimed that some of the deficiencies found by the state were the result of the union’s “sabotage” of certain hospital operations before the state inspection. They had previously said that the union had resented working harder under the new owners.
In response, both the union and the former owners of the hospital, LibertyHealth Systems, which owns Jersey City Medical Center, said this week that the claims were surprising and untrue.
“Liberty did everything to run it into the ground,” charged Dr. Lipsky, a current owner of the hospital, last week.
He later added, “They took doctors, they took services, they took everything they could.”
But LibertyHealth denied the allegations, saying the hospital was fully compliant with state standards when they sold it, and that they worked with the new owners for a smooth transition.
Dr. Lipsky also referred to the hospital workers’ union by saying that the HPAE was behaving as a “malignant cancerous organization.” The hospital emphasized that it gave Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) a 5.5 year-contract – the longest HPAE contract in the state – and increased salaries by 2 percent after six months. But they said HPAE hasn’t lived up to its end of the bargain, making it difficult to work in partnership because they file grievance after grievance.
The union maintained that its main priority is to ensure patient care. HPAE met with the Department of Health and Senior Services in June and issued a letter identifying a number of conditions that they believed had not been met by the hospital.
To read the full story on the controversy and the hospital’s new programs, pick up the Secaucus Reporter this weekend or come back here to hudsonreporter.com starting Sunday.
Meadowlands Hospital owners have harsh words for former owners, union
