JERSEY CITY AND BEYOND – After receiving revised proposals from two Christ Hospital bidders last Friday, various stakeholders continue to sift through what was submitted to determine the best and most viable option for the bankrupt medical facility.
The hospital’s Board of Trustees met Monday morning to weigh revised bids from Hudson Hospital Holdco LLC and Community Healthcare Associates (CHA)/Liberty Health System. A committee representing the interests of the hospital’s creditors will meet Tuesday to review the revised bids submitted on March 23.
For the past week the fate of Christ Hospital has been tied up in a federal bankruptcy court in Newark before Judge Morris Stern. Hudson Hospital Holdco LLC – which owns Bayonne Medical Center and Hoboken University Medical Center – and CHA/LibertyHealth System – which owns Jersey City Medical Center – each hope to buy the financially strapped Christ in Jersey City.
On Friday 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 last Wednesday 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.
Judge Stern is now expected to meet with representatives from the creditors’
committee and the Board of Trustees on Tuesday, March 27 to get their opinions of the revised bids. A representative from the state Dept. of Health and Senior Services is also likely to give Judge Stern an opinion of the revised proposals.
Depending on how long it takes for the various parties to discuss their opinions, the judge could make a final decision Tuesday on which bidder will be allowed to buy the hospital.
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.
The winning bidder will still have to be approved by various state agencies, including the Dept. of Health and Senior Services. – E. Assata Wright
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