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.
- Courier: "Officials prep for Muhlenberg closing"
-- Dan Damon
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1 comment:
Green speaks of PLAN B, a study committee that has no power for action. It is typical of his actions to cloud issues and divorce himself from any accountability. What was PLAN A? Assemblyman, did it exist anywhere except in your head after the announcement? If so what was it and why did it fail.No one is adressing who will pay for the transportation of Medicare patients FROM a acute care facility. Medicare will not and even in Plainfield from Muhlenbe rg to a home 2 miles away it would be about $70.00.Imagine from Overlook ar Kennedy.
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