New Jersey Hospital Seizes An Opportunity To Maintain Its Mission
October 13, 2008
I\’ve written here previously about the need for all constituents at a financially challenged hospital to collaborate towards a mutually positive solution, and to seize the moment of opportunity that arises once it is clear that the status quo cannot be sustained. Waiting for a financially strapped state government like New Jersey\’s for help may result in others seizing control, but will not likely fix the underlying problems.
It was great to read last week that Raritan Bay Medical Center, a two hospital system with an older and larger facility in Perth Amboy and a newer, smaller complex in suburban Old Bridge, was planning to meet with potential buyers of the Old Bridge facility to secure a cash infusion for the struggling Perth Amboy hospital. I was born in Perth Amboy Hospital in 1953. No, this is not me below, but the scene probably looked much like this back then.
Writing in the Star Ledger online edition, Tom Haydon reports that employees at the two hospitals were informed of the possible sale last month, and that local and state political figures were fully behind the move. The sale would consolidate Raritan Bay\’s operations at the Perth Amboy facility, where Raritan Bay serves a large number of uninsured patients, while permitting the Old Bridge facility to continue operating with minimal disruption to its employees and community.
It remains to be seen whether the proposed sale will occur and have a lasting corrective effect on Raritan Bay\’s financial challenges. However, it is refreshing and encouraging to see the governing board and management of a hospital having the foresight and will to act, while they still have options, to remain true to their view of their hospital\’s mission.
[Image: Two nurses with baby in nursery, Toronto, Ontario, circa 1955, by Canadian Nurses Assoc.]