Governor-elect Murphy Receives HPAE’s Healthcare Priorities List ….and Other HPAE News
December 21, 2017
HPAE’s Healthcare Priorities for the New Administration
HPAE has submitted to Governor-elect Murphy’s healthcare transition committee a list of healthcare priority action items for the new administration. HPAE is urging Governor Murphy’s administration to take specific steps to improve staffing in acute care hospitals and addiction treatment facilities, strengthen health and safety protections, guarantee a living wage for healthcare workers, expand access to healthcare services, and implement state laws and regulations to ensure the transparency and financial accountability of hospitals and other healthcare institutions.
Sale of Meadowlands Hospital Receives Final Approval
The state has approved the sale of Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center, the Secaucus hospital where admissions have plummeted under private ownership, to a multimillionaire real-estate developer who owns a Bergen County surgical center. HPAE Public Policy Director Bridget Devane said that “We are hopeful that this is a new day and that we will be able to have a working relationship with the new owner.”
Cooper Calls Off Purchase of Lourdes Health System
Cooper University Health Care announced last Friday it “will no longer pursue the acquisition” of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center and other assets of a Catholic-run health system. If the sale had gone through, the combined organizations would have had more than 12,000 employees, more than 130 medical offices and annual revenues of nearly $2 billion.
A Fond Farewell
This is the last issue of What’s New With HPAE that I will be editing. After being an HPAE staff member for 25 years, I am retiring at the end of this month. HPAE will be putting out the next member update on January 11th, with a new editor and perhaps some changes in the format. Stay tuned.
I’m incredibly thankful to have had the opportunity to be at HPAE and do important and challenging work under the leadership of our three state officers while working closely and collaboratively with local leaders and my colleagues on the HPAE staff.
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