Today’s Comment: Commissioner Howard’s Decision on Muhlenberg Hospital

First off, I’d like to thank everyone for their interest in my blog. The response so far has been great and in going through some of the comments that have been left, I am glad to see such enthusiasm on so many issues surrounding our readers. I hope, over time, to address them all, and I look forward to bringing attention to our district and state’s most current news as well as giving my readers some insight into how decisions are made in Trenton.

As many of you already know, yesterday, the commissioner of Health and Senior Services for the State of New Jersey, Heather Howard, made an announcement that she had approved Solaris Healthcare’s application for “the discontinuance of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center…as a general hospital…” Many of us in Plainfield have long recognized the possibility that her decision would favor the down-sizing of Muhlenberg Hospital. While this is not the outcome any of us were hoping for, I feel it is important to recap a short history of this past year in terms of what was done, both in trying to prevent the closure of Muhlenberg, and prepare for the possibility that it could close.

Last year at about this time I was meeting with Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Solaris and Commissioner Howard on this very issue. When Solaris’ reported losses went from $4-$10 million with the decision from the governor that in this year’s budget there would be less money available for charity care at New Jersey’s hospitals, it became clear to all involved that unless Muhlenberg could find a buyer, the hospital would close.

Because this closing affects not just the residents of the city of Plainfield, but also surrounding towns and area hospitals, we decided to put together a task force to plan for the worst case scenario of Muhlenberg closing. A lot of time and energy went into planning for this and although I am disappointed in the closing of Muhlenberg, I am proud of what the task force has accomplished in terms of planning for continued access to quality healthcare for the citizens of Plainfield and its surrounding communities. Each of the surrounding hospitals has specialty medical services that we will be able to utilize. In the coming days I will try to outline for my readers this specific function of the task force in terms of identifying hospitals for meeting specific needs, such as St. Peter’s Hospital in New Brunswick, specializing in infant care. We should also keep in mind the availability of non-hospital health care facilities such as our own Plainfield Health Center.

My concern from day one on this issue has been, did Muhlenberg really have to close? Over the past five years I have used my position as a legislator to get funds to keep Muhlenberg afloat all without any real information as to why, specifically, the hospital was losing money, be it simply because of charity care or maybe because of bad investments, I had no way of knowing. When something so central to our community is losing money and we’re fighting to do whatever we can to keep it open, it seemed to me that the community and local government ought to have the right to scrutinize what is causing the problem. At the start of this, we had no such right. That’s why I co-sponsored Assembly Bill A2607, requiring healthcare facilities to hold annual public meetings for the communities that they serve. Governor Corzine will be signing this bill into law shortly, along with three other important pieces of healthcare legislation. I was very proud of the way the community rallied together on this issue, and I thought it was time to demand that citizens facing what we have faced had a right to know about any such problems looming on the horizon in a timely manner.

It is no secret that I am disappointed by Commissioner Howard’s decision. In particular, there are a few things that I wanted to voice my concern about.

*Although I had hoped to keep the hospital’s license active for three years in order to look for a buyer, the Attorney General’s office has said that this would be illegal. I have asked for a written opinion of this so that we can take a look, but as it stands, the hospital will have to forfeit its license within the next ten days. However, even without an active license, the search for a buyer can continue.

*I can’t support the task force working under the direction of Solaris. What has already happened to the Muhlenberg board will just happen again: Solaris writes the rules, so they have all the control. It’s important, especially now that we have fewer services, that the City of Plainfield has input into the future of the Muhlenberg campus. After all, it’s our citizens that are being most directly affected. Solaris has already proven that they can’t police themselves. That’s why I’ve made it clear that in light of this decision, we will hold Commissioner Howard accountable for the future of our healthcare needs.

Throughout this process, there’s been a lot of anger and finger pointing. But what we really need is talk about solutions. Plainfield’s residents, and the residents of the surrounding communities, need access to quality healthcare. That’s why I’ve worked so closely with the task force to ensure that if this day came, we would be prepared. We also need to talk about what happens to the Muhlenberg Campus, which is why I’m holding Solaris responsible. Solaris will likely need financial help from the state in closing this campus, and I will work to ensure that they do everything that they are asked to do by the state in order to receive such help.

There are a lot of opinions out there about saving Muhlenberg. Many of these people and groups think it is just an issue of financing, but there are other concerns that need to be understood as we move forward. Muhlenberg doesn’t just need a buyer, it needs a credible hospital group to buy and manage the facility. This potential buyer/manager would also need to be approved by the state. This doesn’t mean that there is no possibility of finding a buyer and resuscitating (pardon the pun) our hospital, but it means that we need to be smarter about what we are after: money alone will not do the trick.

I look forward to sharing with all of you whatever I can as this issue unfolds. I will always try to keep those of you who read my blog as informed as possible on the latest news concerning this and other issues that affect our lives.