Star Ledger: Gov. Christie Allocates $11M to HUMC

A large step will be taken in the sale of the Hoboken University Medical Center on Thursday, when the State Health Planning Board will make an recommendation state Health Commissioner Mary O’Dowd. 

The Newark Star Ledger reported on Thursday that Gov. Chris Christie declined to say whether or not he supports the sale of the hospital to HUMC Holdco LLC., the same group that bought Bayonne Medical Center in 2008.

But, a governor's spokesman told the Newark Star Ledger in that same article, that an $11 million budget item in financial aid to HUMC, was supposed to provide "flexibility as the sale of the hospital moves forward.”

The $11 million is supposed to help HUMC pay debt, not operating expenses, according to the Ledger article.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer has said that without this sale, HUMC will close. At a, union representatives disputed that notion.

The management group of HUMC , absolving the hospital of all its debt and thereby easing the sale for HUMC Holdco.

Members of the Hoboken community and staffers at the hospital are mainly concerned about keeping the hospital open long term. The contract between the Hoboken University Mecical Center and potential buyer HUMC Holdco, stipulates that the new owner needs to keep the hospital open for at least seven years. To some, that's not long term enough.

Another concern is that not all health care plans will be accepted once the new owners have taken over.

Renee Steinhagen, president of New Jersey Appleseed, told the Ledger: "The Bayonne Medical Center saw termination of nearly all insurance contracts, dramatic increases in the cost of in-patient care and some of the lowest quality of care scores in the county."