EMS Vehicle

I had the pleasure of meeting with the Director of the Office of Legislative Services for the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services to discuss some healthcare issues. While there were a few topics that were covered, the most urgent was the Muhlenberg/Solaris issue.

I asked the Director where we stood on Solaris providing an EMS vehicle to the City of Plainfield. Apparently, there was a miscommunication between Solaris, the State of NJ, and the City of Plainfield. It was my understanding that, as part of the CN terms in closing Muhlenberg, Solaris would provide the City of Plainfield with an EMS vehicle. Solaris is now saying that the EMS vehicle was promised to be provided if, and only if, a settlement agreement was reached with the City of Plainfield. Since there was no settlement, Solaris has allegedly removed that promise from the table. I told Solaris that this was unacceptable and that further investigation would be done on this issue. As a result, I recommended the following:

1. The Commissioner’s office should review this entire process from the beginning.
2. The City of Plainfield, Solaris, and the Commissioner’s office should meet to discuss how this matter can be rectified in a timely manner.

In moving forward, we need to begin discussing the future of the Muhlenberg campus so we are no longer caught off guard with anything.