SECAUCUS – Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center has been fined $92,000 by the state for failing to provide annual financial reports for 2012 and 2013 in a timely manner. The hospital was sold in 2010 to a for-profit investment group. The reports were required as a condition of the sale.
The 2012 annual financial report was submitted to the state more than a year late, and the 2013 report, which was due on June 30, 2014, still has not yet been submitted. The report for 2014 is also overdue.
The state is fining the hospital $52,000 for the late 2012 report and $40,000 for the 2013 report. The hospital already paid fines of $12,000 for submitting its 2011 report late.
Meadowlands has undergone numerous shifts in management since the change in ownership five years ago, as well as charges of unfair labor practices from the National Labor Relations board. The hospital has argued that problems with the computer system used by the previous owners required them to do their accounting manually. Due to mitigating circumstances, they asked that the state not impose the fine for 2013.
Nonetheless, the fines stand. According to northjersey.com, the state has offset its Medicaid reimbursements to the hospital to collect $12,000, and plans to collect $40,000 more that way. Another $40,000 in fines is still outstanding.
A spokesman for the hospital indicated that they intend to submit both the 2013 and 2014 financial statements by the end of the summer.