Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis has written to Governor Phil Murphy expressing concern over the future of the Bayonne Medical Center. In a letter dated August 19, 2020, the Mayor stated, “I write to express my concerns regarding the future of Bayonne’s only hospital, Bayonne Medical Center, and frustration with the Department of Health’s pending Certificate of Need (CN) process regarding the hospital.”
The Mayor went on to write, “Unfortunately, the Department declined to expedite the CN application for the sale of the hospital to BMC Hospital LLC in June. The prolonged dispute over the facility is creating unnecessary instability within our health system and community — amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, no less — and the Department’s decision has exacerbated these issues. Continued delay risks closure of the hospital (or many of its services/departments), flight of medical staff, loss of healthcare access and the elimination of hundreds of jobs. None of these outcomes are acceptable to the Bayonne community.”
Mayor Davis believes that the CN application currently before the Health Department from the BMC Hospital LLC is the only “viable” plan for the operation of the hospital.
The Mayor wants Governor Murphy to intervene to “ensure timely resolution” of the matter.
The Medical Center’s current owner and operator, CarePoint Health, announced months ago it would be selling the hospital due to financial hardships. CarePoint ultimately signed a contract to sell the facility to a qualified buyer pending approval of a Certificate of Need (CN) from the state Health Department. That qualified buyer was BMC Hospital LLC.
Mayor Davis’ letter adds, “The deal stipulates that BMC Hospital LLC will continue operating the facility as a hospital and will expand healthcare offerings to better meet our growing community’s needs.”
The hospital has been providing Bayonne with healthcare services for 132 years.
CarePoint Health recently announced it was adding a mass temperature screening system at the Bayonne Medical Center in order to detect COVID-19 cases. It is also doing the same at its two other hospitals in Hudson County, Christ Hospital in Jersey City and at the Hoboken University Medical Center.
