A Jersey City hospital will suspend non-essential services at the end of October, unless it gets millions in support from the government, its healthcare parent company announced.
Employees at Heights University Hospital, formerly Christ Hospital, learned of the action Friday and their union said the company is threatening layoffs.
Hudson Regional Health took over the hospital and two others from CarePoint Health System in April in federal bankruptcy court.
The company now runs four hospitals, including Bayonne University Hospital, Hoboken University Hospital and Secaucus University Hospital.
The company said it has been trying hard to keep the hospital open and has pumped $300 million into operations, “with a major portion dedicated to Heights University Hospital.”
Despite that, “it was determined in recent days after a thorough analysis, that the facility is unable to avoid continued financial distress,” Hudson Regional said in a statement.
“The anticipated losses of over $60 million per year at Heights University Hospital, without public support, is simply unsustainable to maintain.”
The company’s board will proceed with a “restructuring” that will include suspension of services at Heights University starting Oct. 26.
The employees’ union, a local of Health Professionals & Allied Employees, said Hudson Regional Health assured a bankruptcy court and government regulators just six months ago they had the resources necessary to take over and operate the hospital.
“The community of Jersey City deserves to know why Hudson Regional is willing to put healthcare services at risk so quickly after vowing to preserve the hospital and maintain services,” union president and registered nurse Debbie White said in a statement.
“The N.J. Department of Health must hold the owners accountable to their commitment to the State of New Jersey and the patients served by the hospital,” White said.
Shortly after Hudson Regional took control of Christ Hospital, the facility incurred nearly $250,000 in fines by the Department of Health for months of infection control violations earlier this year, and last year finished last in a state ranking for patient safety.
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