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.

Welcome to Jerry Green's Page!

Welcome! And thank you for checking out Jerry Green’s Page, a blog detailing my (Assemblyman Jerry Green) own views and decisions as well as a forum for discussion about the progress we are making and our strategies for achieving even greater success!

I hope everyone out there has been having a great summer despite the economic hardships facing many right now. Even in the midst of this vacation season, I thought it was important to bring to the people a better source of information about what’s happening around them in terms of the efforts I am making everyday to ensure progress and protect our future.

I admit that I have been hesitant to get into the blog game. Although I read many blogs everyday because they offer local news coverage and commentary, I felt that too many of them had a tabloid quality about them that made me think blogs wouldn’t be taken seriously as real news. But, this is a new age and what people read on blogs they often trust as fact, especially when they don’t have a chance to read differing viewpoints on the same subject. So I’m adding my name to the list of bloggers in the hopes of putting out a different kind of blog: a blog about solutions, rather than just problems.

What you can expect in terms of content:
-Explanations of solutions that I am putting on the table for the reader to evaluate themselves, including background information on the topic so that readers can evaluate for themselves the decisions that are being offered.
-Responses to postings written on other blogs of note, as well as responses to readers’ questions, so that we can foster a better dialogue about the problems we face and work together to find the best solutions.
-Success stories highlighting the positive changes that are happening everyday that often go unnoticed by the general media.

What I need from my readers:
-An open mind: too often we approach the problems we are all facing together with an “us versus them” mentality. Just because a solution is offered by someone on “the other side” doesn’t automatically make it bad. We are on dangerous ground if we dismiss something out of hand simply because we have a problem with who thought of it or who will get credit for it. Let’s make this a place to consider what’s going on without a lot of finger pointing.
-Your input: do you know of something going on that should be mentioned here? Do you feel like you just need to get your thoughts out about a certain issue? You can leave your comments here and either I or my staff will read them. Even if we don’t get back to every comment, please know that we are reading your comments and will make every effort to in some way address your happenings or concerns.

Later this week, check out "The Obama Campaign and Us: What we are doing and how you can get involved!"