NJ Spotlight News
Trouble for CarePoint hospitals in Hudson County?
Clip: 10/29/2024 | 4m 53sVideo has Closed Captions
Layoff notices have been sent while some warn the hospitals could close
On the day after Carepoint CEO Jawad Shah stepped down and on the day that the old CEO Achintya Moulick was voted back in as the new CEO, JC mayor Steve Fulop, a member of the hospital board, was trying to paint a bleak picture of three Hudson County hospitals in some of the most densely populated and marginalized communities, closing.
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NJ Spotlight News is a local public television program presented by THIRTEEN PBS
NJ Spotlight News
Trouble for CarePoint hospitals in Hudson County?
Clip: 10/29/2024 | 4m 53sVideo has Closed Captions
On the day after Carepoint CEO Jawad Shah stepped down and on the day that the old CEO Achintya Moulick was voted back in as the new CEO, JC mayor Steve Fulop, a member of the hospital board, was trying to paint a bleak picture of three Hudson County hospitals in some of the most densely populated and marginalized communities, closing.
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The SharePoint hospital system appears to be in crisis.
The organization owns and operates three hospitals in Hudson County, but it's unclear for how much longer.
The system sent warning notices to 2600 employees notifying them of potential layoffs.
A deal for a Michigan based health care company to take over just fell through.
Then, over the last few days, a major reshuffling of upper management within the hospital network.
It's a troubling chain of events for a system that cares for thousands of underserved residents.
Senior political correspondent David Cruz reports on what's next.
I mean, you could realistically see, three hospitals close here.
And, that would obviously impact, you know, hundreds of thousands of people here.
On the day after the CarePoint, CEO abruptly resigned, and on the day that the old CEO was voted back in as the new CEO, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, member of the hospital board, was trying to paint a bleak picture of three Hudson County hospitals in some of the most densely populated and marginalized communities closing to be replaced by luxury housing.
Given the conflicting interests of entities involved, that is not that far fetched.
Regardless of how distasteful that may sound to you, they're sitting on really valuable real estate, right?
That has, you know, everyone drooling at the possibility of what the alternative uses could be other than a hospital.
They see dollars on the potential redevelopment of these, and that's, you know, it's special interest versus the public's interest.
That's what it comes down to.
Hoboken Councilwoman Tiffany Fisher, who chairs the board of University Hospital in Hoboken, a critic of Philip, has cast a skeptical eye towards the mayor's sincerity, given that ownership of the properties on which the Bay owned Hoboken and Jersey city facilities sits contributed to political action committees with ties to the mayor.
A health care system for the most densely populated, most diverse county in the state of New Jersey is at risk because a private property owner got into this system and just pulled money out of it for his own, you know, personal profits that probably build condos.
What do you say to that?
Because that's the state of what's happening here.
I mean they're building all over the place but I can't see condo here if there's a liquidation of, of assets.
And he's saying these hospitals could be sold and be condos in two years or Well that, that depends on zoning and what's allowed there.
But the, the pressing matter is that there just isn't financial viability in the current state.
The Greek hospital, it's good for me, it's good for me, and it's good for all the people.
Imagine if you have, a charity care.
How do you do it?
How we can do it.
It's terrible for me.
It's terrible.
And for all the people, it's terrible to the state as to truly scrutinize, you know, transactions such as this.
I mean, bankruptcy is just a part of it.
Right.
That's the that's, you know, you either liquidate your assets or you restructure them.
Strapped for cash.
SharePoint has sent layoff notices to staff warning them of imminent bankruptcy.
The operator says the state isn't holding up its end of the charity care bargain, but audits have found poor management and budget incompetence.
Secaucus based Hudson Regional Hospital sent a letter to the CarePoint board offering a bailout before it's too late.
While the state and Hudson County huddled with local officials to try and figure out a solution, the clock is ticking for the good folks who need health care and have nowhere else to turn.
And the good folks who work in health care and put their lives on the line every day.
We owe it to both of those communities to make sure we get this right.
That says noncommittal responses you can get to what officials say is a crisis.
Meanwhile, we texted Hudson County Executive Craig Guy and asked if three hospitals in his county were about to shut down.
To which he replied, not on my watch.
Talks, we're told, are continuing.
I'm David Cruz, NJ Spotlight News.
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