Sunday, March 30, 2008

Rally: Tuesday, April 1st - 5 PM

Save Muhlenberg Hospital Rally
Tuesday April 1, 2008
5:00 - 7:00 PM
Randolph Road and Park Avenue


Join concerned residents, employees and others impacted by the proposed closing of Muhlenberg in a support rally under the leadership of POP -- People's Organization for Progress.

Solaris Health Systems bigwigs will be meeting with 'community representatives' (what! no one invited you?!) to discuss the closure.

This is an opportunity to let the 'community representatives' know how important Muhlenberg is to the community.

For more information, contact POP at (908) 731-1518.

Letters: Grace Church support; Postal worker worries

There are two new letters on the Muhlenberg closing in Sunday's Courier News --

One from Grace Episcopal Church (the hospital is named after an Episcopal priest who witnessed an amputation without anesthesia while visiting Plainfield and urged local Episcopalians to push for the founding of a hospital) -- read more here: "Members of founding church mull Muhlenberg options".

and another from Mike Breslin, president of the local letter carriers union about the impact of the closing on postal employees. Read more here: "Muhlenberg critical to the welfare of area letter carriers".

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Muhlenberg in online national satisfaction study


Muhlenberg is among the thousands of hospitals rated in a satisfaction study released by the Federal government and detailed in a Star-Ledger story today.

See more here: "U.S. unveils hospital survey that tracks patient satisfaction"

To view Muhlenberg information on the government website, go here: "Hospital Compare".

Friday, March 28, 2008

Planning Meeting and Trenton Rally



The regular 'Save Muhlenberg' planning meeting, under the leadership of People's Organization for Progress is Monday evening, March 31, 6:30 PM, at duCret Art School, 1030 Central Avenue.

Ten buses are planned for the Trenton Rally -- Saturday, April 5.

Buses will leave from the Muhlenberg parking lot at Randolph Road and Park Avenue. 10:00 AM SHARP!

To reserve your seat on one of the buses, call a bus captain, listed below --
  • Tony: (908) 251-0693
  • Annie Stocks: (908) 769-4147
  • Ready to Be Free Ministries, Terri Briggs: (908) 463-2946

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Letter: Solutions needed for Muhlenberg workers

Here is a letter in today's Courier, unfortunately not online at this point:

Solutions needed for families dependent on Muhlenberg

Being an employee of Muhlenberg for nine years, like most of us (co-workers) face loss of jobs, insurance for our families. Me having two children, 12- and 8-year olds, andpaying hcild support, rent, the upkeep of my car. We'll lose a lot.

I suggest leasing out the vacant rooms or floors that are not in use to generate more revenue.

I thank everyone for their support in this matter. So go forth and pursue this matter vigorously, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

Thank you. May God be with us.

SIDNEY MACK
Piscataway

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Hospital Closings: JC's Greenville shows timeline

State health officials yesterday approved the closing of Jersey City's Greenville Hospital on April 23.

This is in line with the length of time between the notice and the closing of St. James Hospital in Newark.

The implication is that Solaris' request for a 'certificate of need' that would allow closing Muhlenberg would be on target for late August-early September, 2008.

Greenville's parent corporation's 'flagship hospital' -- the Jersey City Medical Center, which is three miles away -- will take up the services previously offered by Greenville.

Read the full story in today's Jersey Journal and Star-Ledger.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Political grandstanding and Muhlenberg

Longtime Plainfield political activist Joe Gutenkauf has a letter to the editor in Monday's Courier News. See here: "Political 'grandstanding' won't save Muhlenberg Hospital"

Note: The letter writer confuses two of my blogs. "Save Muhlenberg" is just what it says it is -- a resource of information for the community. If you glance through the posts, that is all that you will find -- except for the post of March 17 (see here) which links to a lengthy article by Clem Fioentino in the Courier, and in which post I chide Assemblyman Green for HIS political grandstanding.

For my daily, signed opinions about the political conditions and other goings-on in Plainfield, one would have to check out my other blog "Plainfield Today".

For daily links to online news stories from the media and of interest to those in Central NJ, there is also "CLIPS".

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Two letters on Muhlenberg closing: Keating, Marx

Two letters on the Muhlenberg closing in Sunday's Courier News --

Douglas Keating, Plainfield: "Penalties will be paid by all for hospital's demise"

Harriet Marx, Plainfield: "Charity care has put hospitals like Muhlenberg in dire straits"

Hospital closings - like Muhlenberg's - stress health centers



Closings of hospitals such as Muhlenberg are putting severe pressure on Federally-qualified health centers such as Plainfield's Neighborhood Health Services Center (formerly the Plainfield Health Center). Read more here: Ledger: "Influx of patients stretch thin centers for underserved"

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Two letters of support: Ferraro and Schmeisser


Two letters of support in Saturday's Courier News --
"Contact elected officials and make them hear you"
A letter from former Plainfield City Councilor Bob Ferraro.

"Muhlenberg must be saved -- or too much will be lost"
Gail Schmeissser of North Plainfield recalls how Muhlenberg has been there for her and her family for sixty years.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Solaris unveils Muhlenberg severance plan




Friday's Courier carries a story on the just-released severance plan for Muhlenberg employees. See here
: "Muhlenberg severance plan unveiled"

The fact that today is Good Friday is not meant to be ironic.


Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Save Muhlenberg: Update from Dottie Gutenkauf



An email update as of 3/17 to the community from Dottie Gutenkauf --

The March 15 demonstration and rally were a smashing success! While the papers estimated there were 500 in attendance, they obviously didn't stick around until everybody arrived. Plainfield blogger Herb Kaufman estimated 1,000 or more--see his comments at http://cnplainfield.blogspot.com/2008/03/ich-bin-eine-plaifielder.html.
NBC News 4 was there, and on Saturday the Ledger posted a video with photos and some good sound:


At the rally, I met a woman from Warren whose children were born at Muhlenberg. I met a gentleman from Piscataway, a heart transplant survivor, who praised Muhlenberg to the skies. I met doctors and nurses, teachers and parents--even a cheering squad from a local school (and they were terrific). Assemblyman Jerry Green, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, and Plainfield City Council members Linda Carter, Don Davis, and Harold Gibson were greeted with cheers and applause. So were Plainfield Chamber of Commerce head Jim Uffer, Plainfield Education Association vice president Kathy Cardona, pastors Carolyn Eklund (Grace Episcopal Church), LaVerne Lattimore Ball (Rose of Sharon Community Church), and Jim Colvin (United Church of Christ)--and many, many others.

Special kudos to People's Organization for Progress state chair, Larry Hamm, and Plainfield chair Steven Hatcher!

Mayor Robinson-Briggs reported having received tons of letters from concerned citizens, and asked those who hadn't already written to do so quickly. "I want to have them in hand when Assemblyman Green and I meet with Governor Corzine soon," she said. "The Governor needs to know!" You can send or deliver letters to her at City Hall, 515 Watchung Avenue, Plainfield 07060.

"This is the real Plainfield," one participant said to me. "Look around--we're all here: black, white, latino...young, middle-aged, old...Catholics, Protestants of all kinds, Jews, agnostics...we are united!"

And so we are--and so we must stay!

Next on the agenda:

Monday, March 17, 6:30 pm: meeting at duCret School of Art, 1030 Central Avenue (parking and entrance in the rear) to get updates and plan strategy.

Saturday, April 5: March on Trenton! Rally begins at 12 noon at the State House, 125 West State Street; departure 10 am from the Muhlenberg parking lot at Park Avenue & Randolph Road in Plainfield for a motorcade down the New Jersey Turnpike. Buses are being arranged, carpooling encouraged.

Questions? Call Plainfield POP chair Steven Hatcher at 908-731-1518.

Dottie Gutenkauf


View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Assemblyman Green to Muhlenberg protesters: Get over it.



Clem Fiorentino has an excellent writeup in Monday's Courier on the Muhlenberg closing, featuring Assemblyman Green's take on things and what he is doing (see more here).

To be blunt, the Assemblyman is scrambling like he just learned the situation is dire. This has been coming down the pike for years, as anyone who has been watching knows.

The charity-care reimbursement issue has been ongoing at least since George Bush took office seven years ago.

The time for Jerry to convene his task force -- if indeed it has any real (as opposed to public relations) role to play -- would have been when Solaris announced it was putting Muhlenberg up for sale several months ago.

Hospitals that would be faced with taking in Plainfield patients -- JFK, Somerset and Overlook -- already knew this was a likely outcome, probably have already made plans, and in any event would be told by the state what they had to do. So what is Jerry bringing to the table?

The key local piece that needs solving is transportation. The Plainfield Rescue Squad is going to be stressed out. What is the Assemblyman doing about that? And what CAN be done?

Another piece about which the Assemblyman has been silent is what is going to happen to the facility.

One reader posted a comment recently that Muhlenberg needs to get a 'divorce' from Solaris.

More on that later.


-- Dan Damon

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Sunday, March 16, 2008

500 Rally For Muhlenberg



The second public rally in support of Muhlenberg on Saturday was more than twice the size of the first on March 3, according to reports in the local papers today. Read more and see pictures here and here.


-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

$75 cab rides coming to Muhlenberg patients?




Will Plainfielders facing the closing of Muhlenberg end up in the same boat as patients of St. James hospital in Newark?

Hate to think so, but read the heart-wrenching story of an 89-year-old Ironbound resident who had to take a $75 cab ride to Clara Maass MC for a test to see if an incident she suffered was life-threatening. Read more here.



Save Muhlenberg Rally
Today
Noon
Assemble at Park Avenue and Randolph Road
(Clouds are supposed to lift by late morning)

-- Dan Damon
View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Save Muhlenberg Campaign: One man's struggle



As Plainfielders and other supporters of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center prepare for tomorrow's rally, the Ledger's Mark DiIonno offers a profile of Larry Hamm, state chairperson of People's Organization for Progress -- no stranger to Plainfield and Plainfield causes and one of the forces behind the push to save Muhlenberg. See the profile here.



-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Showing curbside support for Muhlenberg



Kenyon Avenue residents show their support for Muhlenberg by recycling their sign from the March 1st rally.

Make your plans now to attend Saturday's rally at Noon. Assemble at Park Avenue and Randolph Road.

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Monday, March 10, 2008

'Save Muhlenberg' form letters and state-local-federal contacts




It is important to write elected officials protesting the plans to close Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center. Volunteers with the Save Muhlenberg campaign have submitted form letters which you may find online here and here. (See printing directions at end of this story.)

When writing, it is very important to include ways that Muhlenberg has been important to you -- whether as a patient, staff member, Auxiliary member or volunteer. Point out how your life will be changed without Muhlenberg.

You can also mention such things as the impact closing Muhlenberg will have on all those who work there, and all the doctors' and health-related offices that will no longer have a reason to be located in Plainfield.

Federal, state and local contacts for the Save Muhlenberg campaign are listed below.

The NJ Commissioner of Health and Human Services, Heather Howard, is directly involved with the application for closure. She should be especially contacted, as should Gov. Jon Corzine.

Elected officials from the state's 22nd Legislative District (Plainfield, Fanwood, Scotch Plains, North Plainfield, Dunellen, Middlesex and Green Brook) and 18th Legislative District (South Plainfield, Edison) are also important.

Letters to our Congressional delegation -- both Senators and Representatives -- are important because the chief problem is failure by the FEDERAL government to adequately fund charity care reimbursements to local hospitals such as Muhlenberg. That is where the REAL fix can be applied. (Rep. Pallone's district includes Plainfield; Rep. Ferguson covers all the other affected towns.)

Locally, letters may be sent to Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and members of the City Council.

(If you send an email, please CC (or BCC) me at dandamon@comcast.net and I will post the letters on the Save Muhlenberg website. Thanks -- Dan)

PRINTING ONLINE FORM LETTERS: Look for the 'iPaper' link at the top of the window for the document -- it's toward the left just above the document. Click on it and select the 'Print' option. You will get a neat one-page letter you can address, sign and mail.


C O N T A C T S


FEDERAL


Sen. Frank Lautenberg

825A Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-8929
or
1 Gateway Center, 1st Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
(973) 639-8700
online contact form:
http://lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/


Sen. Robert Menendez

502 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4744
or
1 Gateway Center, 1lth Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
(973) 645-3030
online contact form:
http://menendez.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

Rep. Frank Pallone

420 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4671
or
67/69 Church Street / Kilmer Square
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 249-8892
email: frank.pallone@mail.house.gov

Rep. Mike Ferguson
214 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5361
or
45 Mountain Blvd, Bldg D, Ste 1
Warren, NJ 07059
(908) 757-7835
email: mike.ferguson@mail.house.gov

STATE


Gov. Jon Corzine
Office of the Governor
P. O. Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
(609) 292-6000
online contact form:
http://www.nj.gov/governor/govmail.html

Commissioner Heather Howard
Dept of Health and Senior Services
P. O. Box 360
Trenton, NJ 08625
(609) 292-7837 | Toll-free (800) 367-6543
online contact form:
http://www.nj.gov/health/commiss/contact.shtml

22nd Legislative District

Sen. Nicholas Scutari
1514 E. St. Georges Avenue, 2nd Fl
Linden, NJ 07036
(908) 587-0404
email:

18th Legislative District

Sen. Barbara Buono
Two Lincoln Hwy, Ste 401
Edison, NJ 08820
(732) 205-1372
email:

Asm. Jerry Green
17 Watchung Avenue
Plainfield, NJ 07060
(908) 561-5757 | fax:
email: asmgreen@njleg.org

Asm. Peter Barnes III
3 Stephenville Pkwy, Ste 2E
Edison, NJ 08820
(732) 548-1406
email:
asmbarnes@njleg.org

Asw. Linda Stender
1801 East Second St., 2nd Fl
Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
(908) 668-1900
email:
aswstender@njleg.org

Asm. Patrick Diegnan, Jr.
908 Oak Tree Avenue, Unit P
South Plainfield, NJ 07080
(908) 757-1677
email:
asmdiegnan@njleg.org

LOCAL


Hon. Sharon Robinson-Briggs
Mayor's Office, City Hall
515 Watchung Avenue
Plainfield, NJ 07060


Address Individual City Councilors

% City Clerk, City Hall
515 Watchung Avenue
Plainfield, NJ 07060
Councilors

Rashid Burney - Wards 2/3 At-Large
Linda Carter - Wards 1/4 At-Large
Don Davis - Ward 3
Harold Gibson - At-Large (Council President)
William Reid - Ward 1
Elliott Simmons - Ward 4
Cory Storch - Ward 2



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View today's online Plainfield news CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Letter: Muhlenberg closing will only cost more in the long run

This letter appears in Sunday's Courier News (see here) --

Muhlenberg closing will only cost more in the long run


The closing of Muhlenberg Hospital is a serious problem not only for the Plainfield community but for healthcare in New Jersey in general.

While not all local hospitals can afford to maintain the latest in high-tech medical care, taking a hospital facility out of a major city like Plainfield is a disservice to all of us. Not only does it remove basic health care further from a major population center, it does so for many who can not likely afford transportation costs to other central New Jersey facilities. The closing also shifts another load of uninsured and charity care onto facilities that are already struggling with the burden they already shoulder.

The purpose of having community-local hospitals is to put basic care in the population centers where people who need care can access it readily. I am pleased to see that ER services will continue. But what about basic obstetrics for healthy term births (sick and seriously preterm babies are already transported to Level II and III facilities)? What about reproductive health care and screening for both men and women? What about well-child care and immunizations for those who are uninsured? What about hospice care, so that dying elderly and sick can remain closer to their families?

While Solaris is entitled to be concerned about its bottom line, closing Muhlenberg is only creating additional burden on those least prepared to deal with it and is costing all of us more in the long run. I call on our state and local officials and community leaders to broker a better solution for Plainfield and for Muhlenberg.

MARGARET W. SULLIVAN

Somerville

(Note: Online stories may be taken down by their publisher after a period of time or made available for a fee. Links posted here is from the original online publication of this piece.)

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

Friday, March 7, 2008

TESTIMONIAL: Muhlenberg saved my life - Pui Evans




I am very concerned about the Muhlenberg Hospital closing.

Firstly, if it wasn't for their intensive care unit, I would not be here today to send you an email. They saved my life. I came across the article on the website because I needed to find everything about why it's closing. Thanks for what you are doing to help.
It's also not good for the economy in our community considering that it affects more than 1,100 people...and then it will affect us living here in the long run. After its closing, the nearest hospital (JFK) is about 15 minutes away from our city. Also, once they close the hospital, will Solaris just leave it vacant?
Perhaps it's helping Solaris find a buyer by getting it out to the media beyond NJ... Anyways, I'd love to hear about what else we can do.

I read that there will be another rally on March 15 at the hospital. How can we help to get more people to attend?

Pui Evans, Plainfield

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Meeting: Planning Meeting - Monday, 03/10/2008

'Save Muhlenberg' Planning Meeting. The Plainfield chapter of People's Organization for Progress hosts a public planning meeting.

Monday, March 10, 6:30 PM at DuCret School of Art, 1030 Central Aveue.


More information, contact Plainfield chair, Steve Hatcher at (908) 731-1518, or State chair, Lawrence Hamm at (973) 801-0001.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

PICTURES: 03/01/2008 - Save Muhlenberg Rally

Here's a slideshow of pictures from the Save Muhlenberg Rally on Saturday, March 1, 2008.


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-- Dan Damon

Monday, March 3, 2008

Editorial: Patients are right to worry - Ledger

[Editorial]
Patients are right to worry

Thursday, February 21, 2008

New Jerseyans are wor ried, as they should be, about a recent string of hospital closings and the warnings of more to come.

It is understandable that the most troubled people, as documented by a Rutgers Center for State Health Policy survey re leased this week, are urban residents, minorities and those with low incomes. For many of them, health care has come to mean hospital care, and for the most part, it is the threatened and vulnerable hospitals to which they turn.

The hospital emergency room substitutes for a family doctor. The poor are more often hospitalized because they don't get timely care for their ailments.

Hospitals in New Jersey, by law, must treat all patients whether they can pay or not. The state allocates more than $700 million a year to hospitals for "charity care," but that only partially covers the cost. The charity care deficit is one of the factors dragging down hospitals. And so the fate of lower-in come, uninsured patients is very much entwined with the fate of the hospitals that are struggling to stay afloat.

The hospital crisis and the response to it are being measured in terms of hospital beds lost and hospital beds needed. Much of a hospital's reputation and economics are based on beds built and filled.

Yet the best -- and least expensive -- medical care is now associated with preventive treatment that keeps patients out of hospital beds.

Things must change. Why have so few hospitals been able to redirect noncritical patients from the emergency room to more appropriate and cost-effective settings? Is there something about the relationship between hospitals and doctors who admit patients that must change?

What New Jersey spends on charity care, Medicaid and state-subsidized health insurance for children and low-in come patients adds up to a fortune. Rearranging the distribution of that money in ways that favor the kind of care that is best for patients might fund significant changes in how hospitals function for their own well-being and the well-being of their patients.

The difficulty will be finding a way to do new things without yanking the financial rug out from under the old system while it is still needed.

New Jersey's hospitals are a vital public service, but they are almost entirely held in private hands. The state is obligated to make sure people have access to care but also is obligated to keep a tight rein on government costs.

Both entities are coming to grips with the reality that the current situation cannot be sustained. The answers are elu sive. They must, however, be pinned down, or care for a significant part of the population will continue to deteriorate.

Link to online story HERE.

Letter: 03/02/2008 - Hospital's woes rooted in Plainfield's past - Courier

[Letter to the Editor, Sunday, March 2, 2008]

Muhlenberg's woes rooted in Plainfield's past

By HAROLD S. YOOD

With a great deal of sadness, and a degree of astonishment, I read about the planned closing of Muhlenberg Medical Center.

I personally have a sense of loss for the institution where my father, who began his practice in Plainfield around 1911, was a staff member until 1946. My brother served an internship there in the late '30s. I was on the active staff from 1946 to 1991.

During the early '80s, I was president of the medical staff. The quality of that staff was outstanding and the Plainfield area enjoyed a degree of medical care that equaled that of many university hospitals.

Now, not only is Plainfield going to be without the resource of available hospital facilities, but the loss of over 1,000 jobs is going to further increase the economic woes that besiege this city. No one has realistically addressed the questions of access for those depending upon public transportation. Nor do they focus on the deleterious effects and perhaps increased fatalities due to the increased time for critical patients to reach definitive hospital facilities.

What has caused this disaster?

Historically, the roots go back to the depression years of the '30s, when Plainfield had a well-organized welfare system that acted as a magnet for migrants from the South seeking a better life. Plainfield became one of the first cities in the country to have mandated school busing, which social reformers felt would correct racial imbalance in the school system. Instead this began the exodus to the "hills" of an affluent white population. The riots of the late '60s accelerated the changes in the social and economic demographics in the city.

A degree of blame for Muhlenberg's demise must be assumed by those area's residents who chose other hospitals rather than share a semi-private room with Plainfielders.

The most obvious blame lies in the overwhelming costs of uncompensated "charitable" medical care. At a state and local level, a Democratic-led government, whose party advocates universal health care, has refused sufficient wherewithal to the institutions that bore the load of that care.

Medicare has continually short-changed compensation to both physicians and hospitals in relation to the cost of living.

The commercial carriers have been only interested in their bottom line, not the quality of care their insured received. There have been insurers, including Blue Cross, that have boycotted hospitals, including Muhlenberg, for not signing disastrous low reimbursement contracts.

Due to fear of "their competition," hospitals often agreed to contracts that failed to meet true costs of delivering care. The administrations hope to make up the loss by charging irresponsible prohibitive high fees to the uninsured. Overall, "Not For Profit Hospital" trustees have failed in their fiduciary responsibility to the public.

As medical director from 1990 to 2001 for the now-defunct Central New Jersey Independent Practitioners Association, a group of several hundred physicians in Middlesex and Union counties that contracted to provide medical services for insurance companies such as Aetna, Cigna, and New York Life, I am well aware of the continuous negative relationship of those carriers to the "providers" of health care.

Fault must also be shared by the local political hierarchy which, in regard to Plainfield's health and economical woes, often has seemed to say one thing, yet in areas where it should have influence, has given the impression of acting differently.

Sometimes the leadership appears to be more interested in potential patronage rather that community welfare. An example can be found in the yet-to-be-approved city budget due July 2007, in which almost every section has a line item, often substantial, for professional contracts. By law, they do not require competitive bids but can be awarded to whomever the administration desires.

There are other causes that I do not have the time or space to dwell upon, for the health care disaster that is facing not only Plainfield but the rest of the country.

I would hope that it is not too late to find an acceptable remedy for the local crisis. That would take a concerted effort by all with influence.

Harold S. Yood, MD, lives in Plainfield.

[Note: Dr. Yood served on Muhlenberg's medical staff from 1946 to 1991. Subsequent to that he was medical director of the Central New Jersey Independent Practitioners Association until 2001. He is a longtime, thoughtful observer of the Plainfield scene who used to be seen -- and heard -- frequently at City Council meetings. A true friend of Plainfield. -- Dan Damon]

Link to online story HERE.

News: 03/01/08 - Save Muhlenberg Rally - Ledger

200 rally against Plainfield hospital closing

Sunday, March 02, 2008

BY NAWAL QAROONI
Star-Ledger Staff


Jayne Lendach was born at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield, the same place where she gave birth to her son, Kyle, and has worked as an administrator since 1982.

Now, Lendach's job is in jeopardy and the facility she holds dear is planning to close.

"It's a shame and an outrage. We serve the poor. We don't turn anyone away," the 50-year-old Dunellen resident said. "We're an essential hospital and the community needs us. How can this happen?"

Lendach joined nearly 200 other hospital employees and local residents yesterday to protest the decision to close the hospital due to mounting deficits caused mainly by insufficient state aid for its uninsured patients. The announcement by Solaris Health Care System, which owns the 396-bed acute-care facility, came last month.

The 130-year-old hospital plans to file formal papers with the state Department of Health and Senior Services tomorrow seeking the closure. If approved, programs and services will be phased out before the hospital finally stops admitting patients, probably within a few months.

Muhlenberg, whose emergency room treats 35,000 patients a year and which has 1,100 employees, was put up for sale last November, with no serious buyers.

When asked to respond to allegations made to The Star-Ledger that Solaris last month had received a signed letter of intent from at least one company interested in purchasing the hospital, officials on Friday continued to insist there were no "formal offers."

"A formal offer from our perspective would need to both outline the terms of conditions and the demonstrated financial viability to purchase the hospital," Solaris spokesman Thomas Casey said. "There were no formal offers under those parameters."

If there is still "someone out there who wants to purchase Muhlenberg," the interested party should contact Cain Brothers, the New York-based investment firm that is handling the hospital's proceedings, Casey said.

More than half of New Jersey's 78 community care hospitals are facing major financial difficulties, the result of economic forces including increased operating costs and reduced reimbursement from major insurers like Medicare. In the last six months, three have closed. Others, including Saint James and Columbus in Newark and Greenville in Jersey City, are slated to shut their doors soon.

In Muhlenberg's case, the hospital provided about $15.4 million in uncompensated care last year, but received only $6.2 million from the state in charity care funding, spokesman Steven Weiss has said.

JFK Medical Center in Edison, Muhlenberg's sister facility, will remain open, as will the home care service the two hospitals jointly operate. Muhlenberg merged with JFK -- a 380-bed hospital about five miles away in Middlesex County -- in 1997 to form the Solaris Health System. Once Muhlenberg closes, JFK will be the closest acute-care hospital to Plainfield.

That is why Roberto Velez, 49, of Plainfield, joined the protesters yesterday, many of whom carried signs reading "Save Muhlenberg Hospital" and chanted "Ho ho, hey hey, Muhlenberg has got to stay."

"My wife had a heart attack three months ago in church and almost died," said Velez, a warehouse employee. "If she had to go to a hospital farther than Muhlenberg, it would have been too late."

Robert Noh, a urologist at Muhlenberg, said he was protesting because hospitals are simply too essential to lose.

"This hospital plays a vital role in the community," said Noh, who lives in Bridgewater. "The government isn't supporting a place that has been serving for 130 years."

Peter Clary Jr. was another of the protesters who was born at Muhlenberg, just a stone's throw from where he was raised.

"They saved my life more than once here," said Clary, 49, who works in the mailroom at Rutgers University. "I can understand them scaling back their services, but not close it down. We need this place."
Susie Leonardis, 62, who has worked at the hospital since 1969 when she emigrated from Italy, said she is worried for staff who may not be able to secure jobs elsewhere.

"What will happen to them? Who can employ all these people?" said Leonardis, of South Plainfield. "The government should step in and save it."

Nawal Qarooni may be reached at nqarooni@starledger.com or (732) 404-8082. Staff writer Angela Stewart contributed to this report.

Link to online story HERE.

News: 03/01/08 - Save Muhlenberg Rally - Courier

As reported in Sunday's Courier --

Cutbacks spur protest


By JARED KALTWASSER
STAFF WRITER


PLAINFIELD — Hundreds of protesters marched at the corner of Park Avenue and Randolph Road on Saturday afternoon, carrying signs saying "Save Muhlenberg Hospital" and chanting "Do not close" to the tune of car horn honks of support.

Police Chief Edward Santiago estimated that between 200 and 300 people turned out to protest Solaris Health System's decision last month to shut down most of the hospital, likely by the end of summer. The rally was organized by the Plainfield Chapter of the People's Organization for Progress.

The closure will leave the city without an acute care hospital, and leave most of the hospital's 1,100 employees out of work. Some hospital services will remain, such as a satellite emergency room and the hospital's school of nursing.

Solaris cited financial woes caused by the millions of dollars in charity care the hospital provides annually, as the reason behind their decision. But Dr. Henry Altszuler, a cardiologist at the hospital, said the closure will affect more than bank accounts.

"I just wanted to say that though the reason for the closing might be money, the cost is going to be human lives," said Altszuler.

Steven Hatcher, president of the Plainfield chapter of the People's Organization for Progress and an employee at Overlook Hospital in Summit, said the community needs to send a loud and clear message that it wants the hospital to stay.

"It might be cold outside, but we must be fired up on the inside," he said.

City resident Kevin Cunniff, who volunteers at the hospital a couple of days each week and whose wife is employed at the hospital, said Muhlenberg's closing was an indictment of the entire health-care system in America.

"People have said for a long time that a society is measured by how they take care of their infirmed and their young kids," Cunniff said. "This just violates that whole idea."

Resident Dottie Gutenkauf wondered aloud Saturday where area residents will go in an emergency situation, and how the area's remaining hospitals might adjust to Muhlenberg's closure.

"It will be devastating not just to the Plainfield community, but to the whole area," said Dottie Gutenkauf. "Where will people go if they have a heart attack or stroke? You've got to get somewhere fast — and that means (somewhere) close."

City Council President Harold Gibson lamented the influence of money in the health-care system.

"The reason the hospital has been talking about closing has nothing to do with anything but dollars and cents. Profit," Gibson said. "The money isn't there, it's just a matter of margin of profit. That's all it is."

Joyce Pollard of Plainfield put it more bluntly, blaming the closure on "greed."

"The greed is so bad today," she said. "People are so greedy, they don't care who they hurt."

But Carrie Faraone, a social worker who just returned to the hospital last week after a stint at another medical center, said the tragedy is that Muhlenberg is a caring hospital with a loyal, supportive staff eager to help anyone who walks through its doors.

"This community needs their help," she said. "This hospital provides excellent care."

Assemblyman Jerry Green said he's asking the City Council to have a financial adviser look over the hospital's finances, though he said the chances of the hospital staying open past the six-month timetable laid out by Solaris are "very slim" at this point.

The People's Organization for Progress will hold a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the duCret School of the Arts, 1030 Central Ave., to discuss how the community can continue on in its fight to keep its hospital. The organization will hold another protest at the hospital on March 15.

Faraone said she doesn't intend to look for another job, because she still has hope Muhlenberg will survive.

"Absolutely there's a chance," she said. "...Where there's a will, there's a way, but the community needs to mobilize."

Jared Kaltwasser can be reached at (908) 707-3137 or jkaltwasse@gannett.com.

Link to online story HERE.