Bayonne blues
Taken from NJBiz
December 2, 2019
Bayonne Medical Center is looking for a merger partner amid a consolidation wave, but residents worry about losing access to acute care
More than 1,800 residents signed an online petition recently demanding that state and local officials do everything they can to keep CarePoint Health’s Bayonne Medical Center from shutting its doors.
On Nov. 21 the Bayonne City Council approved the creation of the Bayonne Municipal Hospital Authority, giving the city government official power to purchase its local hospital’s license if a suitable partner is not found.
These actions come in the wake of RWJBarnabas Health signing a letter of intent in October to buy two other Hudson County hospitals – Christ Hospital in Jersey City and Hoboken University Medical Center from CarePoint Health.
But the Bayonne facility was not included in that deal. Instead, CarePoint Health announced that it had initiated a separate process seeking a strategic partner for Bayonne Medical Center.
In addition, according to people familiar with the situation, the hospital land was recently sold to the owner of a local nursing home chain; however, the land transaction has nothing to do with the sale of the hospital.
None of these developments has calmed the fears of residents or local officials. And the question on the minds of not only concerned Bayonne citizens, but also local politicians and health care advocates around the state is: What will happen to Bayonne Medical Center?
According to some people close to the situation it is unlikely that the hospital will close. But industry observers have been asking why Bayonne wasn’t included in the RWJBarnabas deal along with Christ Hospital and the Hoboken facility.