Here are some highlights of the speakers from last night's meeting on the potential sale of the Hoboken's HUMC to HUMC Holdco which is run by the same management of Bayonne Medical. There has been a lot of misinformation out there including the fact that this was not an open process. There was indeed an RFP that was posted to the HUMC website and sent out to over 170 organizations. The board received 6 proposals and then picked one that met their criteria. The vendor that was selected was HUMC Holdco and it was agreed with a unanimous vote that they would then enter into exclusive negotiations with the HUMC. That process took about a year to start to get to the point where we are today.
The Union JNESO thinks that the process should be deferred and perhaps another search to begin.While they didn't say they opposed the sale per se they clearly don't think that the Bayonne deal is good enough for them. That might well be true but do they think they can wait another year to get a better deal? My opinion is the hospital won't last a year based on my discussions with officials close to the situation and knowing what I know about the finances and accounts payable situation from attending so many meetings. Ask yourself the question: when was the last time the HUMC paid PSE&G? The answer will shock you. Does the nurses union feel they have the right to get paid but not the hardworking line work at the utility company? In order to save as many union jobs the only way is close this deal and soon. The deal will get worse for Hoboken the longer it takes.
The bottom line is Hoboken is out of options and this is the best deal on the table. I don't think we can risk walking away from the table to restart the process since it most likely would mean the hospital would go bankrupt.
Most people that went up spoke in favor of the sale but the Union and the Insurance lobby were there to voice their concerns as well. Here is the first round of video highlights of the speakers. At least one mofr video to come. Mayor Zimmer speaks first.
◦
