“We’re going to become part of the premiere health care system in the state of New Jersey and one of the finest and most recognized in the country,” said Bruce J. Markowitz, president and CEO of Palisades Medical Center. “We are going to gain access to specialty and subspecialty services that we would not otherwise be able to gain access to.”
On Sept. 10, Markowitz participated in the signing of a Letter of Intent between the Palisades Healthcare System – representing the 202-bed hospital and the 245-bed nursing home and rehabilitation center The Harborage – and the Hackensack University Health Network.
“Hackensack is known for the quality of their care, for setting the standard,” said Markowitz. “Now we will be part of that standard. This is good for the community; this is good for Palisades.”
The signing follows years of collaboration between the two networks, with the partnership beginning in June 2012. “Currently we have a joint vascular program and joint neo-natology program,” said Markowitz.
“We’ll be able to offer a larger spectrum of services and better care for the health of our population.” –Bruce J. Markowitz
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Successful partners
Palisades Medical Center is located on River Road in North Bergen. With more than 1,300 employees, it is the largest employer in its service area. The annual operating budget is approximately $150 million.
It was ranked one of the top hospitals in the state and number one in Hudson County on the State of New Jersey’s annual healthcare report card. Palisades Medical Center was one of only two hospitals in the state to receive a perfect 100 percent score in treating heart attack patients.
Hackensack University Health Network, based in New Jersey, comprises 1,452 beds, more than 11,000 employees and 3,300 credentialed physicians. Along with six other health systems, they are part of the nation’s largest healthcare consortium of its kind, AllSpire Health Partners, with 28 hospitals and a service area of more than six million people.
Markowitz estimates that the process of securing state and federal approval for the partnership will take about six months. Once completed, the hospital will be renamed HackensackUMC Palisades.
According to the HackensackUMC website, “HackensackUHN and Palisades Medical Center plan to invest over the next five years at Palisades, ensuring that HackensackUMC Palisades has the most cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art facilities.”
“This will really position us well under the post-healthcare transformation model, where we’ll be able to offer a larger spectrum of services and better care for the health of our population,” said Markowitz.
Construction is already well underway on the new Ambulatory Care Center on the hospital grounds. Begun in December 2013, it will include a dialysis center and provide expanded capabilities for endoscopy, cardiology, gastroenterology, orthopedics and multi-specialty physician practices from Hackensack. It will also house the John Theurer Cancer Center.
Personnel from HackensackUHN will work at both locations, in Hackensack and in North Bergen. “And that’s really the beauty of it, quite frankly,” said Markowitz. “For members of our community that would be seeking care outside of the community, going to New York for example, this will enable them to stay within the community and to have better continuity between their community hospital and a tertiary hospital, which is Hackensack.”
The partnership is not expected to impact the staff currently employed at Palisades Hospital.
A very good fit
Palisades Medical Center opened its doors on the waterfront about 35 years ago, after moving from Weehawken. “It was North Hudson Hospital,” said North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco about the Weehawken facility. “It was a very small facility. There was no parking. And it did not have the greatest reputation. It went down to the waterfront and that stigma kind of carried. So even though the hospital has, under Bruce Markowitz, been really upgraded and there are great reports about the care that it’s giving, there was always that stigma of the old hospital.”
“I think this now dispels that,” he continued. “We’re getting a really strong brand name in North Hudson. It makes it a much more valuable merger.”
Palisades did take steps toward partnership in the past. “A couple of years ago they tried to do it with Columbia,” said Sacco. “It didn’t work out. It wasn’t a good fit. Right now this is a very good fit. It’s going to be great for the people in North Bergen and North Hudson.”
“Lots of places talk about survival,” said Markowitz. “This isn’t about survival; this is about thriving and growing. It’s about taking advantage of opportunities, an expansion of capabilities.”
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.