Hudson Regional Hospital’s Jersey City facility is facing a potential shutdown and mass layoffs as a financial collapse threatens the operator’s newly acquired Hudson County network.
Residents, staff, and officials warn that the closure of Heights University Hospital would devastate access to essential medical services, leaving thousands without critical emergency and specialized care. The round of cuts includes registered nurses along with service and maintenance workers.
“People are dying and will continue to because of lack of service,” said Craig Ford, president of the 1199J, a national union of hospital and healthcare employees, in an interview with New Jersey Urban News. “It is still unclear what form of healthcare services will be provided at this site.”
Several critical care departments have already shut down or reduced staffing, including the neighborhood clinic, perioperative services, endoscopy, pre-admission, ambulatory surgery, operating room, and dialysis unit, according to members familiar with the matter who spoke to New Jersey Urban News. Intensive Care Units (ICU) have gone down from 18 beds to 2 beds, union leaders said.
“We have yet to receive the necessary funding support from the State of New Jersey, nor has the county’s proposed federal funding option been realized,” said Lisa Herrmann, a spokesperson for Hudson Regional Hospital, to New Jersey Urban News. “The reality is that the situation is complex as it involves the livelihoods of HRH employees and the healthcare needs of thousands of residents.”
The department shutdowns have created cascading problems across other Hudson Regional Health facilities. Debbie White, president of Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) said nurses are overwhelmed with incoming patients from Heights University Hospital. At least 80 Bayonne Medical Center employees have also been warned of potential job losses.
“We are calling on the Department of Health to be the only one that makes a decision on whether this hospital can close,” said White, in a virtual press conference held on Oct.31 with union members and former employees laid off.
Amid department closures at University Heights Hospital, patients are being transferred to nearby facilities to take the brunt of patients, including Bayonne Medical Center, taking in an influx of patients following a set of closures.
Rebecca Lowe, president of HPAE Local 5186, echoed concerns about a potential shutdown.
“Our jobs as healthcare workers are stressful enough, we are trying to save lives, while the owners have little regard for our well being,” said Rebecca Lowe, president of HPAE Local 5186. “Instead of working to invest in a plan to improve our facility, the owners have chosen out a path of deception and loss.”
Before employees were notified about staffing cuts, HRH sent over design renderings to the city’s planning department for a 10-story residential complex to replace Christ Hospital plans dated for Sept. 25. Renderings published by HudPost show the proposal for the development, dividing the property into both residential and medical zones, with the majority of the land designated for housing rather than healthcare use.
In April, Hudson Regional Hospital, a privately-owned acute care hospital, took control of the operations of Christ Hospital, Hoboken University Medical Hospital and Bayonne Medical Center. The former owner, CarePoint Health, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to secure $67 million in emergency funding amid a mounting $300 million debt. Christ Hospital was renamed Heights University Hospital.
A federal bankruptcy court later approved Christ Hospital’s sale to Hudson Holdco with a $43.5 million bid. On Oct. 22, Dr. Kifaieh informed staff members that “inherited debts” of the hospital, “have made continued operations in the current model unsustainable,” in an email reviewed by New Jersey Urban News.
“Unfortunately, the analysis, which included a yearly loss of over $60 million attributed to Jersey City facility alone, made clear the Heights’ long history of deferred maintenance and programmatic decline left the facility far behind its peers,” he said.
State Sen. Raj Mukherji initially praised the hospital’s new ownership in September, but was back before officials six weeks later requesting $25 million in aid and new financial “guardrails.” He told New Jersey Urban News that he hoped the funding would “ensure continuity of emergency care and use it to prevent a healthcare desert in the Heights or elsewhere in Hudson County.”
Hudson Regional Health made an additional request of $18 million in state funding as part of the hospital system’s stabilization plan, warning that without that aid, operations may cease on a Nov.10 deadline.
Jeff Brown, the deputy commissioner for the state Department of Health, warned the Murphy administration in an Oct. 30 email that without $18 million in state support, the entire Hudson Regional network would be at risk and face “liquidity challenges” by Nov. 10. The state already allocated $2 million in emergency funds to keep the hospital operational.
A spokesperson for the Murphy administration referred New Jersey Urban News to the state Department of Health for additional comment, who did not respond.
Union members also accuse Hudson Regional Hospital of violating the state’s WARN Act, which mandates a 90-day public notice before any mass layoffs. The state Department of Labor said the required notice wasn’t filed; union leaders report they were only given 30 days before layoffs took effect.
Hudson Regional Health denies the allegation, asserting all legal steps were followed, according to NJ Spotlight News.
In a caucus meeting held on Monday at Jersey City City Hall, council members acknowledged the uncertainty raised by residents in the community on the timeline of Heights University Hospital’s potential shutdown.
“They are hemorrhaging money and there needs to be a sustainable plan,” said Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh, speaking on the facility’s dire financial state and lack of funding to keep operations afloat.
However, he added, “This is a step backwards,” addressing the ordinance that would remove senior housing as a zoning use from medical districts to prevent the hospital’s conversion into such residential units.
Hudson Regional Health has not responded to repeated requests on the timeline for the hospital’s potential closure after the Nov. 10 critical funding threshold.