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Hospital sale gets go-ahead
(by Maggie Fazeli Fard - May 07, 2008)
Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) and Touro University College of Medicine closed their $45 million purchase of bankrupt Pascack Valley Hospital (PVH) after hearing that the state attorney general had no objection to the sale and would not require a public hearing.
The sale of the PVH site to HUMC and Touro was approved by a federal court judge in February, three months after the hospital closed.
The next step for HUMC is to obtain approval from the state Department of Health to reopen an emergency room in Westwood. The hospital has not provided a target date by which emergency services would be restored, but according to a statement from John P. Ferguson, president and chief executive officer of HUMC, the hospital will “focus on restoring emergency medical services on the campus as soon as possible.”
Also unknown is when and to what extent acute-care services will be restored. HUMC has expressed its intent to offer more extensive hospital services in the future. To do so, the hospital must reactivate the acute care hospital license, which was not transferred to HUMC in the PVH purchase. So far only an application for emergency services has been submitted to the attorney general’s office.
In addition to medical care provided by HUMC, Touro University College of Medicine plans to open a medical school on the site, hoping to welcome 40 students and 30 faculty members in September 2009.
The sale behind them, HUMC and Touro representatives will present plans for the hospital site and seek input from
Pascack
Valley residents on Wednesday, May 14, at the
Westwood
Municipal
Building , Mayor John Birkner announced earlier this week.
“Really, at this point, what I’m really waiting for is the public presentation that we’re going to host,” Birkner said Monday.
Members of the public will have the opportunity to ask questions and give their opinions regarding what services they want and need.
“[But] it’s not a hearing,” emphasized Birkner. “We’re not going to let it be a cross-examination. We want the community to have a dialogue with HUMC.”
The attorney general ruled that a public review of the plans was not required because PVH was closed before the sale. Crippled by $80 million in debt, PVH declared bankruptcy last September and closed its doors two months later.
Following the public meeting, the hearing of an ordinance to revise the zoning of the former PVH site will be held on Tuesday, May 20.
Maggie Fazeli Fard's e-mail address is fazelifard@northjersey.com.
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