Once
again our Assemblyman and Chairman of the Plainfield Democrat Committee Jerry
Green has taken exception to one of my blogs and accused me of lying in print.
On 3/14/13 Jerry wrote in his blog“I am hurt by the comments that he allowed to be printed
in the past as well as most of his criticisms that weren’t just misleading but
out right false” here.
This
was in response to my March 13 blog expressing my fears about Assembly Bill
A3403 as sent to the Senate.
I
fail to find any misinformation or falsehoods that I have written. I will
assure Green that I have read the revised bill and when I wrote that if the
provisions of the bill which arranged for a 10 year tax rebate of up to $10
million to any developer who would take over the Muhlenberg building for non-acute health care and non acute health care services would be
to JFK’s favor by prohibiting an acute care facility to be reinstated in that
site.
In Green’s own blog 1/29/13 Green &
Sumter Bill to Help Communities Transform ..he wrote( click.) “The
bill restricts the function of a repurposed facility to a non-acute health care and health support services center, and
requires a credit applicant to demonstrate that such an investment will not
destabilize the supply and delivery of acute health care services in its
market”
If I can recall at the staged hearings was
it not the presence of JFK the excuse to close Muhlenberg; since JFK was suppose to serve Plainfield and its
surroundings?
If those words which are verbatim from the
wording in the bill* itself does not mean that there cannot
be an acute care hospital established on site using State monetary support; I do not understand
the English language.
Green
goes onto write “What
this bill does is bring back and expand medical services and creates jobs which
our community needs”.
What he fails to do is to explain how non-acute health services and non-acute
support services will provide any
benefit that the community does not have.
In
a strict interpretation of “non-acute” the ER which Solaris will abandon at the end of the 5 year mandatory provision;
can only be replaced according to the phrase “non-acute” by an “urgent care”
walk in facility; and we already have several in the area.
Green
also states that this bill is designed to help communities where hospitals have
been closed and not replaced. He gives Barnett as an example;“Barnert Hospital in Paterson is a perfect example
of a productive transformation from hospital to community health center. This
bill would support transitions such as Barnert’s in other areas of the state.”
To make his case Green would equate Apples with Oranges. Barnert
and Muhlemberg situations are not in the least comparable. Patterson has
another Hospital, St Joseph, in the city. Patterson has not suffered the loss
of its acute car facility.
Plainfield on the other hand has been denuded of acute
care facilities. I will remain convinced to my dying day that despite describing his position
as powerful in Trenton; Jerry Green did little to avert
that tragedy.
Green writes:” This bill I sponsored helps not just
Plainfield but the entire state. This isn’t some bill that helps Solaris or
lines my pockets like some on the blogs have speculated. For any person to ever
say that about me or that I have ever taken a dime in my 30 plus year career
you must not know who I am or my record. You must be speaking from personal
experience because I’ve never and will never take a dime to do this.”
I
have never accused him of taking a dime. On the
other hand can Green unequivocally state that if implemented this bill could not
benefit Solaris (JFK)? Nor can he deny that there a was a relationship between
an organization with which he was associated and JFK. It is true he did
officially terminate his position in that company when the Muhlenberg closure
became an issue.
*16-To be eligible for any tax credits authorized under this
17 section, a developer shall demonstrate to the authority, at the time
18
of application, that the State's financial support of the proposed
19
capital investment in a qualified health care facility will not
20
destabilize the supply and delivery of acute care health services in
21 its market (A3043-page 3)
**
from his own words 3/17/13
*** Hospitals closed; (Wikipedia listing)
- Beacon, Jersey City, formerly Jersey City Medical Center St
- Barnert Hospital, Paterson ( St Joseph Medical Center in Paterson)
- Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital, Marlboro
- Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center, Plainfield
- Pascack Valley Hospital, Westwood (now Hackensack University Medical Center North at Pascack Valley)
- PBI Regional Medical Center, Passaic (now St. Mary's Hospital - Passaic)
- South Amboy Medical Center, South Amboy
- Union Hospital, Union
- William B. Kessler Memorial Hospital, Hammonton (the ER is still in operation via AtlantiCare, however, the rest of the hospital is closed and for sale)
Bayonne Hospital was reopened as part of a for profit chain.
Union and South Amboy are in municipalities adjacent to close large hospitals
doc you do realize the press release you are quoting and the quote you used was said by assemblywoman sumter about barnert who represents paterson
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:31am, You are right it was Sumter quote which Green posted as part OF his 1/29/13 blog. He accepted that as part of his blog,I consider that as if he agreed with her reasoning.
ReplyDeleteRob,not that I don' agree with you but your AK reference made it unacceptable to print.
ReplyDeleteohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... AK .. that took me a minute to think of what I wrote.. Gotcha.. No worries.
ReplyDeleteJerry Green not tell the truth?!! You cannot mean it.
ReplyDeleteI have always said, if Jerry was that powerful, he would have walked into Corzine's office, demanded Muhlenburg stay open, and it would have happened.
Could it be that the send most powerful man in the Assembly ain't that powerful?
Hello Doc,
ReplyDeleteI believe Assemblyman Green's bill is a step in the right direction. We should applaud him for sponsoring this bill which can lead to economic revitalization of areas where hospitals have been closed and the provision of high quality primary care. However, we should also request that he make his bill even more beneficial to the community by not restricting acute care usages of the repurposed facility.
3:28 anon, Isn't the restriction on acute care my objection? Any state help in re-purposing is a positive step but that one phrase makes it detrimental for Plainfield.That is why we should oppose this bill.
ReplyDeleteWhat we need should have been an active pursuit of a for profit hospital chain that would have replaced most of Muhlenbergs services. They were available and at least two citizen groups had proposed interested parties but they never received administrative interest.
Bayonne Hospital was taken over by a for profit. They are not as ideal as a non profit because they have to be concerned with a return on their investment so some service will be restricted. But they work and we have nothing.
ReplyDeleteGive em h..l Harry, oops, Harold.
ReplyDeleteAngelo