Hudson Regional Hospital and CarePoint Health Merger

CORPORATE STRUCTURE

Hudson Regional Hospital is a for-profit acute care facility in Secaucus, New Jersey, with a primary focus on surgical care. Real estate developer Yan Moshe bought the former Meadowlands Hospital & Medical Center for the price of $12.2 million with a deposit of $5 million and the balance to be financed by the out-going owners. The new ownership entity was named NJMHMC LLC. In addition, Moshe paid $26 million for the land the hospital sits on, which was sold in 2012 by the previous owners in a sale-leaseback deal.  Mr. Moshe also owns the Excel Surgery Center in Hackensack as well as HealthPlus Surgery Center in Saddle Brook, with no previous experience owning, operating, or managing acute-care hospitals.

CarePoint Health has undergone many changes over the past six years, with previous owners/founders of the CarePoint Health system (comprised of Bayonne Medical Center, Christ Hospital in Jersey City, and Hoboken University Medical Center) donating their shares of the for-profit company to the current operators to make a new for-profit and non-profit entity as of March 2023. The new non-profit indirect controlling entity is called CarePoint Health Systems, Inc. Each hospital was then granted mixed for-profit and non-profit status, although Bayonne Medical Center has a partnership/partial ownership with Surgicore, a for-profit entity that appears to make it a majority for-profit business.

As of November 4, 2024, CarePoint Health Systems, Inc. declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Hudson Regional Hospital announced that it wanted to take over all three CarePoint hospitals. HRH is already nearing the finish line for a transfer of ownership of CarePoint Bayonne Medical Center that began in early 2024 with a Certificate of Need application made to the New Jersey Department of Health. For HRH to take over the other two CarePoint hospitals, it will need to file separate Certificate of Need applications for each hospital.

Hudson Regional Hospital & CarePoint Health Bayonne Medical Center: Transfer of Ownership

In March of 2024, Hudson Regional Hospital (HRH) filed a Certificate of Need (CN) application for a transfer of ownership for Bayonne Medical Center (BMC). Hudson Regional purchased the land and buildings from a previous landowner in 2020. If the Certificate of Need application is approved, then Hudson Regional Hospital will become the owner in full of the property and the hospital business.

The New Jersey Department of Health made requests for information beyond the standard application, with four sets of additional questions. It was stated by Hudson Regional in its initial application that it hoped to create a new entity with all three of the CarePoint hospitals called Hudson Health System, but the initial application was only for the transfer of ownership of Bayonne Medical Center.

The Department of Health announced a public hearing for November 13, 2024:

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE FOR THE CERTIFICATE OF NEED APPLICATION FOR THE TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP OF CAREPOINT HEALTH – BAYONNE MEDICAL CENTER TO HUDSON REGIONAL HOSPITALS, LLC

“The State Health Planning Board (the Board) will be holding a public hearing concerning the certificate of need application submitted to the Department of Health by HUDSON REGIONAL HOSPITALS, LLC. Copies of the application are available for review at the Bayonne Public Library, New Jersey State Library, and at the New Jersey Department of Health.  The Board invites the public to comment on the application. All those wishing to make oral comments to the Board are invited to attend the public hearing on this application on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. Comments will be limited to three minutes per person, although written comments may also be submitted at the same time. The Board will take comments from 6:00-7:00 p.m. or the close of testimony, whichever is later.”

The hearing took place at Bayonne Medical Center located at 29 East 29th Street, Bayonne, NJ 07002 in the cafeteria on the ground floor.

You can register here for the hearing.

CERTIFICATE OF NEED/CHAPA

Because this transfer of ownership of Bayonne Medical Center and Hudson Regional Medical Center is considered a transfer between two for-profit entities it is subject only to the Certificate of Need process and not the Community Healthcare Assets Protection Act (CHAPA).

The public hearing for BMC was held on November 13, 2024. From that the NJ Department of Health staff approved the transfer, submitting recommendations and conditions for the transfer of ownership to move forward. The NJ State Health Planning Board met on December 12, 2024, approving the transfer of ownership in a 3 to 1 vote plus one abstention.

CarePoint Health – Bayonne Medical Center CN Recommendations

Notice of Public Hearing Bayonne Medical Center

Hudson Regional Hospital – CarePoint Bayonne Medical Center Certificate of Need Application

HPAE Letter to NJDOH: Concerns and Recommendations for Conditions 

Certificate of Need Follow-up Questions

• HRH CN 1st & 2nd Set of Follow-up Questions
• HRH CN 3rd Set of Follow-up Questions
• HRH CN 4th Set of Follow-up Question

CarePoint Bankruptcy Letter