Newark Bay body identified
A body found on the rocks of the 16th Street Park on March 17 has been positively identified as Miguel Galindo, 35, last known to be living with some friends on 35th Street.
Hudson County Prosecutor said Galindo’s brothers, also a Bayonne resident, made the positive identification on the body earlier this week.
“There is no reason to believe that foul play was involved,” DeFazio said. “It looks like an accidental drowning.”
Galindo’s body was discovered early on March 17 by a 14-year-old girl walking her dog in the area.
Firehouse contract may be awarded
The Bayonne City Council has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, March 28, at 4 p.m. in the Dorothy E. Harrington Council Chamber to report on bids received for the construction of a new firehouse on Route 440 and to possibly award the contract at the same meeting.
Judge OKs sale of Christ Hospital to Holdco LLC
Federal Bankruptcy Judge Morris Stern ruled on March 27 in favor of Hudson Hospital Holdco LLC, which owns Bayonne Medical Center and Hoboken University Medical Center, clearing the way for the company to buy Christ Hospital in Jersey City.
Holdco and a combined bid from Community Healthcare Associates (CHA) and LibertyHealth System, the owner of Jersey City Medical Center, had each bid on the financially-strapped hospital in Jersey City.
“Extending excellent healthcare services motivated Jersey City Medical Center to submit a bid to operate Christ Hospital as a not-for-profit organization,” said Mark Rabson, spokesperson for Liberty. “Everything we promised was consistent to the recommendations made by the state.”
For more than a week, the fate of Christ Hospital has been tied up in a federal bankruptcy court in Newark. On March 23, the two entities were told to revise bids that were submitted to the bankruptcy court on March 15 after the hospital’s creditors and trustees threw their support behind different bids.
The creditors’ committee on March 21 backed the bid submitted by CHA/LibertyHealth System. The next day the hospital’s board of trustees voted in support of the bid from Hudson Holdco.
After receiving revised bids, various stakeholders continued to sift through what was submitted to determine the best and most viable option for the bankrupt medical facility.
The Holdco bid will still have to be approved by various state agencies, including the Dept. of Health and Senior Services.
The hospital’s Board of Trustees met Monday morning to weigh the revised bids from Holdco and (CHA)/Liberty and a committee representing the interests of the hospital’s creditors met on Tuesday to review the revised bids submitted on March 23.
Judge Stern met with representatives from the creditors’ committee and the Board of Trustees on Tuesday, to get their opinions of the revised bids. A representative from the state Dept. of Health and Senior Services was also expected to give Judge Stern an opinion of the revised proposals.
Christ Hospital filed for bankruptcy last month after a sale agreement to a private health care company in California fell through. The hospital serves a large uninsured and indigent population and currently loses about $800,000 a month, according Christ CEO Peter Kelly.
Hudson County MIA remembered
Douglas Lee O’Neill, of Bayonne, whose helicopter vanished in South Vietnam on April 3, 1972, along with the pilot and four other crewmen, will be honored at a ceremony on Saturday, March 31, at the Douglas L O’Neill POW/MIA Remembrance Tree located on 39th Street and Kennedy Boulevard between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
O’Neill is the only service member from Hudson County listed as a POW/MIA from the Vietnam War.
This is an annual vigil sponsored by The Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 151. But the event is open to all veterans and civilians who want to keep alive the memory of O’Neill with the hope of news of his whereabouts.
Mayor Smith’s evening office hours suspended for the holidays
The Office of the Mayor announced that Mayor Mark A. Smith’s Tuesday evening office hours will be suspended on April 3 and 10, due to the religious holiday season and spring break for local schools.
Mayor Smith’s Tuesday evening office hours will resume on April 17 at 5:30 p.m.