Facing severe cuts due to government reimbursement issues — and fearing that these cuts could led to the closure of Heights University Hospital in Jersey City — Hudson County leaders and hospital officials and workers are urgently appealing to Gov. Phil Murphy for funding.
On Sunday, more than 1,500 Heights University Hospital health care professionals, employees, and community members delivered a petition to Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Health, to provide immediate, time sensitive funding to keep the hospital open and care preserved for the community.
Last Wednesday, hospital leaders (including Dr. Nizar Kifaieh, the CEO of Hudson Regional Health, which operates the facility) and county leaders (including Anthony Romano, chairman of the Hudson County Board of Commissioners) made their appeal at a ‘Save Heights University Hospital’ rally.
Kifaieh, speaking an event that featured State Sen. Raj Mukherji and Assemblyman John Allen, said having the unwavering support of Hudson County elected officials was “incredibly meaningful and appreciated.”
“Their firm stance that Gov. Murphy and the state legislature must act, without delay, to provide the funding needed to keep our hospital open is vital,” Kifaieh said. “Despite not yet receiving a financial commitment, we continue to engage with the governor’s office and Department of Health to attempt to secure this funding, which is the only viable path to remaining open and ensuring our hospital can protect quality healthcare for tens of thousands of residents.”
Heights University Hospital, formerly known as Christ Hospital, is part of the four-hospital network that comprises Hudson Regional Health, which was launched this summer.
Changes in Medicaid reimbursement, especially as it applies to undocumented residents, has made an already tenuous financial situation at the hospital become unworkable, Hudson Regional Health officials have said. Officials say the hospital is losing approximately $1.5 million in funding each week.
They are asking the state to step in and provide gap funding.
Romano, last week, stressed the importance.
“Our hospital must stay open,” he said. “Closure is not an option, and we at Hudson County will not accept that. We join the health care workers at Heights Hospital in calling on the governor to fund the hospital to ensure it can continue to provide quality health care to the residents of Jersey City and Hudson County.
“For decades, this hospital has been a lifeline for countless of residents — including seniors, immigrants, and other vulnerable populations. Access to local healthcare is a necessity, and as chair of the county commissioners, we are all committed to ensuring it is preserved for generations to come.”
The petition, initiated and signed by essential workers, nurses, doctors, support staff, and neighborhood residents, is a direct and urgent plea for the emergency funding needed to sustain operations.
The petition highlighted that the hospital is a lifeline for thousands of vulnerable residents, including seniors, Medicaid recipients, the uninsured, and low-income families across Hudson County, who have no other options to receive quality, localized health care.
Here is the wording of the petition.
“As essential health care workers, nothing in the world means more to us than providing the quality care that residents of Jersey City and Hudson County deserve, and we do so each and every day.
“Now, Heights University Hospital (formerly Christ Hospital), is at a very real risk of closure and we need you – our elected representatives to back-up our commitment to our community with a commitment of your own: to sustain the availability and quality of healthcare in the region.
“A host of problems, issues and challenges beyond our control has resulted in losses of over $1.5 million per week that render the most vulnerable in our region – especially those who have lost Medicare coverage, seniors, and those without health insurance – with nowhere to go for health care.
“By this petition, we proclaim this perilous situation unacceptable, and we urge you to lift the issue of securing the necessary funding to save Heights University Hospital to the highest of your priorities.”
