Jim Colvin responds to Ledger editorial on Muhlenberg

The Star-Ledger editorialized on Muhlenberg's closing yesterday (6/24/08) and Muhlenberg supporter Rev. Jim Colvin, pastor of the United Church of Christ, responded with the letter below, submitted to the Ledger and also circulated by email. The complete editorial and a link to the original online version appear after Jim's letter.

-- Dan Damon

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LETTER

Star Ledger Exhibits Ignorance
and Arrogance on Muhlenberg

The Star Ledger printed an astonishingly ignorant and arrogant editorial on the proposed closing of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield. The editors steadfastly ignored research we sent to them refuting the Certificate of Need by Solaris Systems and illustrating ten years of transferring money making assets out of Muhlenberg to the advantage of Solaris' main concern, JFK Hospital in Edison.

The proposal that a puny satellite emergency room should suffice for an urban area with no nearby accessible hospital is the height of upper middle class arrogance. The Ledger's attitude toward, just as an example, the 1200 mothers who deliver babies yearly in Plainfield is virtually, "Let them take helicopters" ala Gov.. Corzine, whose attitude is the same. The Ledger, Corzine and Solaris all have this in common: they practice an ethic of the survival of the fittest and the richest. Unfortunately for them, some of their wealthier friends will be rudely awakened to find JFK and Overlook hospitals even more over-crowded and inaccessible to them.

Shame on the Star Ledger for failing to do its homework on Muhlenberg, for ignoring our repeated pleas to cover the story in depth, and then writing its nasty editorial two days before The State Planning Board's final hearing.

The Ledger is obviously in bed with the State and Solaris, in spirit if not in fact.

This is the shoddiest form of journalism that I have seen in this newspaper.

They will probably not print my title and office, as they refused to do so a few weeks ago in a letter by Rev. Sarah Colvin (my wife) and myself.


Rev. James Colvin
Pastor
United Church of Christ
Plainfield, NJ

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Full text of the Star-Ledger editorial, Tuesday, June 24, 2008. Original can be found here.

OPINION

A satellite-hospital solution

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Keeping the emergency room open when a hospital closes is a logical solution for those needing quick help. That is what the state Department of Health and Senior Services recommends for Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield, and it's a suggestion that should be accepted.

Muhlenberg -- which is expected to run an $18 million deficit this year -- is among the latest in a string of New Jersey hospitals seeking state permission to close.

Some community groups are fighting to maintain a full-service hospital in Plainfield, citing the long distances to the nearest hospitals. Unfortunately, history teaches that once a hospital's owners throw in the towel, resuscitation is not realistic. The satellite emergency department option -- with proper arrangements for transferring patients to full-service hospitals when necessary -- could be the best option for many of the communities destined to lose their hospitals.

In October, for example, Overlook Hospital in Summit took over the Union Hospital emergency department when Union closed. The Union emergency department sees about 60 patients a day, close to what Union had been averaging when it was a fully operating hospital. The emergency room typically sends four patients a day to Overlook for admission.

There's some irony in that the emergency room, traditionally a financial loser, is paying for itself under this arrangement. The unit has delivered babies and stabilized patients suffering cardiac emergencies and strokes and transferred these people to full- service hospitals. It also has treated patients who walked in and out on their own.

Patients at Union's satellite department usually see a doctor within 15 minutes of arrival. That kind of timing, compared with the long waits often associated with emergency rooms, could be the key to whether these programs succeed. They get the job done more quickly because they do not have to wait to share key equipment or personnel with inpatient operations.

Elsewhere, the Adventis HealthCare group built a free-standing emergency room in Germantown, Md., to serve a rapidly growing, traffic-congested area. It quickly attracted 5,000 more patients a year than expected. Adventis officials say short waits and the 24-hour, no-appointment convenience attracted many patients, including those with the insurance and cash to see private doctors if they chose.

It remains to be seen whether the same will happen in urban communities with large indigent populations and chronic health care needs, such as Newark, where two hospitals have closed.

This is not the solution for every dying hospital. All communities will benefit from accepting the inevitable, instead of fighting it, and allowing their hospitals to become what the communities need them to be.