Mayor Responds To Other Bidders Who Want to Buy Hospital

Two bidders that previously expressed interest in buying the Hoboken University Medical Center have released their bids in an effort to try to convince the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority that they still want to purchase the institution.

The HMHA is currently trying to finalize the roughly $90 million sale to HUMC Holdco LLC, the primary owner of Bayonne Medical Center. While the HMHA as well as Mayor Dawn Zimmer have maintained that Holdco offered the best bid, critics have expressed their doubts and have requested to see more information about why Holdco was chosen.

Late last week, two of the six bidders— and the Jersey City Medical Center—released their bids. In turn, the mayor, who is a commissioner on the Hospital Authority, released a detailed statement in which she explained why the Authority went with Holdco.

"The HUMC Holdco bid maintains all the vital services of our hospital and fully defeases the bond immediately, eliminating the financial risk for the City," Zimmer said in a press release. "It was fully funded with a solid commitment from a qualified lender for the full purchase price. After the sale, the hospital would be obligated to pay its full property tax generating approximately $600,000 of tax savings for Hoboken's taxpayers.  No other bid came close to meeting these criteria."

Zimmer wrote also that the JCMC's financing is dependent on two variables: a $20 million Stabilization grant from the State of New Jersey and applying for and receiving Urban Transit Hub tax credits in the amount of $39 million which would then be sold to another entity for $34.3 million.

HMHA Chairwoman Toni Tomarazzo and Zimmer have maintainted that Holdco was the only bidder with the funding in place. Holdco plans to sell and lease back the facility from an Alabama based firm, which has the funding in place, according to Holdco's bid.

About the JCMC bid, Zimmer wrote: "the bid was for a for profit development project that would create a commercial building characterized as a medical mall that would lease space to healthcare related businesses."

Under JCMC's plan, the Hoboken hospital would be part of the Jersey City Medical Center and would focus on women's and children's services.

About P3, Zimmer said, that "their initial proposal was only for the management of the hospital, not for its purchase.  This proposal was not considered because we were seeking to sell the hospital not hire a new manager."

Geoff Teed, P3's president, publicly disagreed with the mayor's statement, saying that she referred to an old bid, rather than a newer one. Teed maintained that his firm has the sufficient funds to buy the hospital and to pay off $35 million in creditors' claims that is currently being settled

"P3's investors remain prepared to finance this transaction," Teed wrote. Tomarazzo has said that the P3 bid does not have the funding in place to keep the hospital open and defease the city's $52 million bond obligation.

The sale to Holdco depends on a bankruptcy settlement negotiations, which are scheduled to conclude this week. Zimmer has said that on Oct. 7, the hospital will run out of money and will be forced to close. attempted to speed up the negotiations and breathe new life in the deal with Holdco. 

The bids are attached to this article.