Dear Editor:
Like most hospitals, Christ Hospital struggles daily to find the resources necessary to meet the growing demand for healthcare services amid unprecedented economic challenges. To remain steadfast in our commitment to those we serve, and to ensure financial viability both now and in the future, we must take a new approach.
Not long ago, I announced the pending sale of Christ Hospital to Prime Healthcare Services. This proposed transfer of ownership will not change Christ Hospital’s identity. It will, however, give us the resources and stability we desperately need to survive. Let there be no mistake. Christ Hospital will close if this sale is not approved. Hundreds of employees will lose their jobs, and an underserved community will lose a safety-net acute care facility.
Much has been said and written about Prime Healthcare in recent weeks. Many of these statements have been either inaccurate or utterly false and misleading. Prime Healthcare Services has been recognized by independent experts for its excellence in patient care delivery, particularly in the area of charity care. In 2009 Thomson Reuters ranked Prime as one of the Top 10 health systems out of more than 252 it surveyed nationwide — the only for-profit hospital on this select list. The Joint Commission, an accrediting body responsible for measuring the quality of care provided by hospitals, recognized and honored 405 of the 5,800 hospitals in the United States for being top Performers on its Key Quality Measures program. Nine of the twelve Prime Healthcare hospitals were included in this group.
Some have claimed that a sale to Prime would jeopardize the charity care delivery that is a hallmark of Christ Hospital. This is false. In fact, when two non-profit hospitals were acquired by Prime and converted to for-profit status, Sherman Oaks Hospital and Paradise Valley, Prime not only met the charity care level each facility previously had delivered, but exceeded it by millions of dollars annually.
Those who would cavalierly oppose this transfer of ownership, without benefit of these and other relevant data, must understand the consequences of their opposition. This sale will preserve the existence of an essential acute care facility for years to come and continue to improve the quality of care provided to our patients. It will protect hundreds upon hundreds of jobs, and create many more jobs for local small businesses through new investments not currently possible. It will produce millions of dollars in new tax revenue for the City of Jersey City. It will keep the doors open to an emergency room that provided nearly 50,000 visits last year. In fact the first investment by Prime Healthcare in Christ Hospital will be an expansion of our emergency room. It will allow Christ Hospital to become far less reliant on State funding. And it will ensure radiation therapy treatments, cancer screenings and behavioral health services not readily available elsewhere in the region continue to be delivered, uninterrupted.
Christ Hospital has been a central part of Hudson County for nearly 140 years. The sale of Christ Hospital to Prime Healthcare will allow for cost effective, efficient and quality delivery of care to be sustained now and into the future. As such, it is squarely in the best interests of our employees, our City and our patients.
It deserves your support.
Peter A. Kelly
President and CEO
Christ Hospital