WHAT’S UP, DOC?: RWJBarnabas Health to Buy Hoboken University Medical Center & Christ Hospital from CarePoint

CarePoint Health and RWJBarnabas Health announced today that they have taken the initial steps to make Hoboken University Medical Center, Christ Hospital in Jersey City and its affiliates a part of RWJBarnabas Health. Definitive details for the proposed transaction are expected before the end of the year.

Formerly St. Mary’s, Hoboken University Medical Center has been in service since 1863 and features 333 licensed beds, 15-licensed long-term care beds, a 34-bay emergency room, dedicated OB-GYN emergency department, and Family Birth Unit—in total treating ore than 44,000 patients annually.

For more than 140 years, Christ Hospital in the Heights has been serving the Jersey City community. The 362-bed facility treats 47,667 patients annually and is home to a state-certified stroke center and primary angioplasty center, emergency room team and a dedicated OB-GYN emergency department, specialty medicine for child and adult behavioral health, women’s health, heart and vascular care, dialysis, as well as a sleep center and surgical specialties.

RWJBarnabas Health serves nine New Jersey counties covering five million people via its partnership with Rutgers University, creating New Jersey’s largest academic health care system. The news of the potential transaction with CarePoint is drawing a variety of reactions around the region.

“I’m very pleased that RWJBarnabas intends to continue offering high quality healthcare at the Hoboken University Medical Center,” said Hoboken Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla, in response to requests for a statement on the move. “The hospital serves a critical need to both the residents of Hoboken and the surrounding communities in Hudson County, and must continue to operate in our City. My office has received multiple assurances that any prospective transaction will not impact the continuation of medical services or employment at the hospital, and we will continue to work closely with both CarePoint and RWJBarnabas to ensure that this occurs. Thank you to Toni Tomarazzo for serving as a critical link from the City to the Hoboken Hospital Board and both healthcare providers.”

Meanwhile, officials in Bayonne are left to wonder what will become of their hospital.

“This pending deal between CarePoint Health and RWJ Barnabas Health reeks of an outright betrayal of our City and is certainly not good news for Bayonne Medical Center and our residents,” said Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis, according to Hudson County View.

“Yesterday, we were told that there was no deal to sell off CarePoint’s hospitals and today we learn that this was simply false. The fight to save our hospital is only just beginning.”