Not-For-Profit Asks For Public Meeting About Hospital Sale

Not-for-Profit organization New Jersey Appleseed has sent a letter to Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Council President Beth Mason asking for a public meeting about the sale of the hospital. 

One of the things the letter—which is attached to this story—mentions is that "the new owner will be flipping the hospital to a real estate entity for $90 million making an immediate profit."

The Hospital Authority is currently still in an "exclusive negotiations period" with HUMC Holdco LLC, who bought the Bayonne Medical Center recently. Last week the Bayonne hospital was , which will lease the hospital back for 45 years. 

There is an online advertisement for the HUMC, as recently reported by local blog Hoboken411. This could mean the same sell and lease-back construction as in Bayonne. This, said Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority Board Chairwoman Toni Tomarazzo, has nothing to do with the negotiations. She said that the sale and lease back is a financing mechanism, and doesn't impact the negotations.

"I assure you," Tomarazzo said, "there was a reason that this bidder was selected."

Tomarazzo said that the Authority is still committed to keeping the hospital open as an accute care facility.

Tomarazzo said that, because of ongoing negotiations, she could not provide any more details why HUMC Holdco LLC was selected as the final bidder. But, she added, "(we) have some very good reasons why this was the best opportunity."

New Jersey Appleseed sent out the letter on Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier this week, a. 

It's still unclear when a deal will be reached between HUMC Holdco LLC and the Hospital Authority. Tomarazzo said it may be in "the next couple of weeks."