Health Issues

I would like to take this time to update our Plainfield community and the surrounding neighborhoods on the status of the Muhlenberg campus. In my discussions with the State Health Commissioner Heather Howard regarding health in New Jersey, I voiced a few serious health issues regarding our communities and our State. The first was that we both agreed that in this year’s budget, we do everything possible to make sure there are no more cuts in the healthcare budget. In fact, with the current negotiations going on in Washington, there is a possibility that stimulus funding is going to filter into New Jersey’s health budget. Again though, the amount and its uses are subject to the language and guidelines of the federal government.

The second issue I presented to Commissioner Howard was that six months after the closing of Muhlenberg, Plainfield residents, along with residents from neighboring communities, are STILL not satisfied with the healthcare they are receiving, especially from the Emergency Room at JFK Hospital. My office has been receiving many calls from our residents and neighbors who have not been able to attain adequate health services. These residents are expressing feelings of discouragement and frustration. This can no longer be the case.

Another topic of discussion with the Commissioner was that it has been six months since the City of Plainfield submitted recommendations to the Commissioner that would set the guidelines regarding how healthcare services would be given to the Plainfield area by Solaris and other hospitals. Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs has a proposal on the table dealing with these recommendations given to the State of New Jersey in terms of the relationship the community wants to have with Solaris pertaining to their delivery of healthcare services to Plainfield and the surrounding communities.

A problem we are facing in moving forward with these recommendations the City of Plainfield has proposed is that Solaris does not want to move forward in the same direction. However, I have been told by the State that whatever agreement the City of Plainfield, the State, and Solaris has already made, they will ensure that such agreements are honored. I recommended to the mayor and Solaris that this issue needs to be bought to a close so that we can move forward with the taskforce, who will have the ability to make sure that the commitments being made are followed through. In talking to the mayor and her legal staff, who have put a proposal on the table, it is time now for Solaris and the State to support it.

The two most important issues in dealing with this problem are having the taskforce in place and in full effect, as well as putting a price on the Muhlenberg campus. Initially, Solaris’ concern was that by law, they said they could not put a price on the campus. However, after my staff and Commissioner Howard’s team researched the matter, it was determined that such information was not the case. This is how we were able to put a price on the Muhlenberg campus. When the economic market changes and the financial crisis takes a turn for the better, we are very confident we will find a developer who will reopen the hospital to a full-service hospital, a task we have not been able to pursue this past year. This was because developers were frightened in pursuing a project that did not have a price-tag on it. Now that our research has enabled us to put a price-tag on the campus, we are now fully opened to the market.