Closing of Jersey City emergency room delayed after community pushback
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- Hudson Regional Health announced that the emergency room at Christ Hospital in Jersey City will close for good on Saturday, giving the community and employees only two days' notice.
After pushback from the community, the hospital's owners say they will keep the Emergency Room open for another two weeks.
The hospital has lost millions of dollars, but health advocates call the ER an emergency for the community.
With the hospital's uncertain future, it's a concern for health advocates, residents and the 45 nurses plus other staff who work here.
"When you're pregnant or have a heart condition like me, every second counts," Edward Fuentes said.
Fuentes said he is worried that this major lifeline in his Jersey City community is expected to be severed.
Heights University Hospital, more commonly known as Christ Hospital, announced its suspending its emergency department services on March 14.
"There's a lot of seniors. You don't see them out here, but I think you have maybe four senior complexes in this area," Fuentes said.
The hospital owners, Hudson Regional Health, blamed financial reasons for the decision.
It put out a statement saying in part that last year the hospital "suffered a severe loss of $74 million, and a projected loss FOR the Emergency Department of $30 million this year."
"These losses were due in large part to drastic cuts to Medicaid and other critical funding initiated by the One Big Beautiful Bill, the cutting of Charity Care at the state level by roughly half, a rising rate of uninsured patients, and other unforeseen factors," the statement continued.
ER nurses told Eyewitness News that staff were originally informed on Thursday that the department would close Saturday night.
"We just got education on new equipment and stuff like that. So no, we did not expect this to come in," nurse Rebecca Lowe said.
"t's not that they don't have the money, it's that they don't want to invest in this. We're calling on the state to file an injunction to stop them from abruptly closing and to follow the process outlined in the law," HPAE President Debbie White said.
The union says the closest emergency care options are Jersey City Medical Center and Hoboken University Hospital.
"Jersey City Medical is not too far from us, but in traffic, a 15-minute ride license I could go to a 45-minute ride," Lowe said.
Decisions about the ER's future come after its owners closed the main hospital last fall.
Jersey City Mayor James Solomon released a statement saying in part, "This is unacceptable, especially since just a year ago, their CEO said that the future is bright for patients in the Heights. I will use all my power to reverse this decision."
The owners of the hospital says staff have been offered opportunities at other hospitals in their network in the event they do close.
Hudson Regional Health has said its been in touch with the city about redevelopment opportunities that would support the construction of a new, financially stable hospital.
Councilman Jake Ephros says that's not a solution and the community doesn't need more luxury apartments; it needs healthcare.
Mayor Solomon said in a statement he is staying in touch with the governor and NJ Department of Health to find a solution that will guarantee emergency care to residents in The Heights.
The owners of the hospital also committed to having an ambulance outside the department for two weeks and then deploying a mobile health unit to provide various levels of care.
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