Solariis's Plans

At about 10:30 pm Friday night an article about Solaris's immediate plans was posted in the on-line edition of the Courier News/Home News. Its contents follow.

JFK Medical Center is looking to expand.Solaris Health System, which runs both facilities, has requested a $169 million bond issue to pay for expansion and renovations at JFK and refinance the debt of the two hospitals. $22.2 million would be for capital improvements The largest chunk of capital improvement money would pay for 59 additional inpatient beds at JFK as the Edison hospital tries to fill some of the gap that will be created by Muhlenberg's closure. JFK currently has 399 beds not all are staffed.The plan also calls for expanding the emergency room, renovating the cardiac catheterization lab and renovating the hyperbaric wound center.
(Adding more beds at JFK! I thought that MRMC was closed because there was an overabundance of beds in the JFK/MRMC service area. JFK currently has 399 beds. and I was told that several units had been closed.)

Meanwhile, a portion of the bond money would go toward expanding some areas at Muhlenberg for medical staff offices and support services.
"There's still a significant health care footprint over there (at Muhlenberg)," said Steven Weiss, spokesman for Solaris. "There are a number of outpatient services."

I agree with Weiss, there is a significant health care footprint in Plainfield. Unfortunately, it has been firmly implanted by Solaris and the Commissioner of Health (etc) upon Plainfield's buttox.

There is no question this extended community has received a royal fornication. Why is our local government showing no evidence of trying to fight back. We need Plan X

I also have trouble with corporate finances. For an entity that was on the verge of filing bankruptcy (Howard) in this economy who will back its bonds? I bet it is us taxpayers. Of course eliminating a 17 million dollar annual loss at Muhlenberg while all other Solaris enterrises are being profitable would make Solaris a good risk. Is it possible tha MRMC was being charged for expenses that belonged to other entities operations? Who has audited the books? Corzine?

MRMC: The Council, Solatis & MICU

Muhlenberg will always be a prime subject for discussion.

Despite the politico's complaint's about unwarranted finger pointing and blame I would like to refresh everyone about the 'strong position" that according to the Council it took on March 5th, 2008. I am sure that this is also what Assemblyman Green refers to when he writes about the c ity's government actions to prevent the closing of MRMC. This is directly from the March 5th Agenda:
10. CONSENT AGENDA:
* ALL MATTERS LISTED WITH AN (*) ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ROUTINE AND NON-CONTROVERSIAL
BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND WILL BE ENACTED BY ONE MOTION. THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATE
DISCUSSION ON THESE ITEMS UNLESS A COUNCILMEMBER OR CITIZEN SO REQUESTS, IN WHICH
EVENT, THE ITEM WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND CONSIDERED SEPARATELY
UNDER NEW BUSINESS IN ITS NORMAL SEQUENCE LATER ON THE AGENDA.
*R 134-08 COUNCILMANIC RESOLUTION DEMANDING THE CONTINUED FULL-SERVICE OPERATING
OF MUHLENBERG REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER IN THE CITY OF PLAINFIELD – CITY CLERK.

Apparently the proposed closing the hospital was treated in the same manner as approval of a refund for overpayment of taxes and merited only "routine" action.

No wonder Trenton paid no attention to the impact on the Plainfield area. If the other municipalities objections were at the same level it appears that the motives were CYA and not serious concern over the area's health care. The repeated refusal to take proactive action reinforces that impression.

I still am unclear why the infamous "Plan B" was proactive and not an acceptance of what already seemed to be a "fait accompli". Until the Commissioner's edict was actually issued there as always room for strong political (voter representative) pressure.

Regrettably the next election for State Senators will not be until 2011, for Assemblymen it will be in 2009 Fortunately history shows that the public memory is rarely that long.

How many saw the Solaris advertisement in Thursday's Star Ledger? Wonderfully the Home Care services are going to continue to be operated in Plainfield! It costs little to base personnel in the building adjacent to the ER. No equipment overhead is required. i am sure that the care rendered will be no more than the amount authorized by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Insurance Carriers. The cost for self pay will be prohibitive for the uninsured. I believe that this service is one that Howard required.

I have not read anything about Muhlenbergs's MICU vehicles. Will they still be stationed in Plainfield? What backup will there be when they are on the road. While MRMC was open it was rare that both vehicle would be unavailable simultaneously. Now travel tmes will be a major complication.

Three little pictures

I had no JG Blog to read at midnight,did not feel about commenting on college football,and my essay on Uwe Reinhardt had not been completed, so here are three more slides which I hope are new.

Merchants on the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama.


Macon le Saone at twilight.


Bersheba coast, Barbados.
That's all folks

Intramural Football and Other Suff

We all deserve a day of rest from the stagnant MRMC situation. jerry's post at 8:30 PM last night should be of interest to the appealers. He notes that despite Commissioner Howard's statement that she has to revoke Muhlenberg's license when Solaris ceases in patient operation, less than a decade ago when the South Amboy hospital closed its license was kept active for several years. As a lay person I thought that precedence c an determine legal decisions.

I would share something light with you. This is really an extension of the earlier after-school sports post. However, if I have already posted this story, you may publicly flagellate (verbally of course) me.

In my 2nd high school year, intramural football was introduced, with the hope it could be a farm system for the varsity.There were two groups; over or under 135lbs.

With most of my West End friends we formed a team called the Tiger Cubs to participated in the under 135lb league. Among them were the Hinkel twins, Don (Boxcar) Smythe, Art Garlick, Norm Bernstein, Charlie Curtis, Peter Paul W?, and others whose names fail me. The School supplied us with shoulder pads (old, well used with no padding left) and a hard rock helmet. Our uniforms were our regular play clothes. I am not even sure if our parents knew about this activity.

There were three other teams, the Rangers, Trojans, and Crusaders. All these teams had uniforms and were probably supported by the local athletic clubs, the Saracens and the Flying Eagles. At game time they seemed like giants. I am sure that some of their players made the weight limit by wearing helium balloons.

The Tiger Cubs were by far the lightest team. A student from the senior class was our coach. We played both ways in those days, and I who must have weighed about 115 lbs. played tackle.

All of our games were high scoring 50-75 points to nothing. The last game we did scored a touchdown! However, we did have a great deal of fun and by their senior high school year, two of our players became varsity all state players. The Rangers and the Crusaders were the leagues powers and must have weighed above the limit. Whenever they ran the Green Bay power sweep, our guys would get out of the way except this idiot who could not make a tackle anyhow.



You may wonder what relation this picture has to do with any of the above. Perhaps nothing since it is a tree. However it is a special tree which is on the Greek Island of Chios, the birthplace of Homer.Supposedly the Bard sat under this tree while he spun his tale of the Trojan Wars.

I tried to sit under its branches in the hope that by osmosis I could acquire the capability that others seem to have to spin a story. I never had a chance. The fence blocked all access.

As a tourist, I had to include my wife in the picture. It must have been a cool spring day, Thus the coat and the leather jacket the man in the right background is wearing.

More Muhlenberg Porpourri

Thanks to "Aminara" we know that no accident involving 'Hall" occurred. From experience, I also am aware that sometimes part of a "posting" gets lost between the writing and appearing on the Internet. We can never take evrything we read at face value. It is always best to check. Here is Aminara's email:
Neozco didn't cut and paste the entire sentence from Jane's letter.
Here is Jane's sentence in it's entirety:
"Wouldn't it be ironic if a worker restoring City Hall was injured on site and had to wait 40 minutes for an ambulance to be transported to JFK Medical Center in Edison, then died, with his family suing the City of Plainfield?"

It is gratifying to be able to not start an unbelievable false rumor about the ambulance delay as fact.


=====================================================================================
This may be true; in the past few years Muhlenberg had or was in the process of eliminating all hand written medication requests, nurse's notes , doctor's orders and even all physician entries for the patients record (chart). Lab. results and x-ray reports were electronically entered into the patient record and could be accessed by the doctor via computer in his office. The hospital was trying to keep up with the "state of the art"

I have been told that at JFK all phyisican records are still hand written, and being well acquainted with doctor's handwriting if this includes orders and requests for medication there is a chance for human error which the electronic model is supposed to eliminate.

I would not be surprised that the software and hardware investment in this system which was charged to MRMC's operating budget will be moved at no cost to JFK.

If the above be factual it would again reflect that the hospital that had the better patient care was sacrificed to keep an inferior institution open.

Green Potpourri Chapter 2

Thank you Jerry for making today’s blog easier to write by providing excerpts from your latest blog. I was going to comment on Professor Uwe Reinhardt. But that can still be a subject for the near future.

You wrote the following which except for the italics and added bold face type has been copied directly without editing from your blog:

“Years ago, I was told by some members of the Catholic community to watch out because all urban hospitals were in danger of closing due to financial losses from charity care****************** At around the time that I started hearing these things, I sat down with Solaris and the former administration to talk about a plan to keep Muhlenberg Hospital open. The former administration stated at that time that they didn’t want to get involved.
When Solaris finally announced the closing publically(sic), it came as no surprise to anyone who was aware of the decision made by the former administration and the Muhlenberg Advisory board.”***************************************************
“We, meaning the current Mayor, her administration, City Council, some community members and myself, have fought very hard to save Muhlenberg. For all of this work, I feel that the City Council, the Mayor and her administration have done a fantastic job. I have promised not to be negative in my blog and to make this a positive blog that offers my solutions for discussion, rather than just hash out old problems and divisions, but I do want to say that I find it embarrassing when I read emails going out to the entire community which are very negative toward this administration and this City Council when they all have been working hard with other area hospitals to ensure healthcare services are still available for this community and those surrounding it.”

Shame on you for blaming someone who can’t defend himself because he happens to be deceased. I suppose that is being politically positive. Unless I am mistaken, McWilliams had been for years a member of the Muhlenberg Board of Governors. He may not have remained in that capacity when elected mayor.

Also I had been under the impression that the Muhlenberg Board had remained in place at the time of the merger. Of course it had little power but when did it become “advisory”? How many meetings of that Board did the former administration and the present administration attend?

If there have been negative emails about Plainfield’s governance perhaps that is the result of poor communication or factual perceptions.

“I find it odd that a citizen of Edison would tell Plainfield’s taxpayers to support spending $10 million for a consultant, and another $20 million to condemn the Muhlenberg campus, and to assume responsibilities for the future of the campus (currently the responsibility of Solaris.) The State of New Jersey is being asked to back over $100 million in bonds for Solaris to close Muhlenberg, something that I think that these editorial writers out of Edison would not ask their own community members to back if they were in the same situation.”

Who is the consultant who will receive the $10mil? And how are the legal costs of $20mil arrived at? Are these actual figures you have determined or has the Solaris CFO supplied them?

I believe that if the State backs something it is becomes the obligation of all the taxpayers in the state not just Plainfield’s.

When Solaris sells off parcels of the MRMC campus are they going to keep the money in their assets and rely on the State to be responsible for the bonds?

“I hope that Solaris will not wait until this becomes a burden and that they will deal in a fair manner to help us find a buyer who won’t be a competitor to Solaris but who can provide what we need, including acute care and any other services to generate profit to offset some of the losses that have occurred at Muhlenberg over the years, rather than pass those burdens on to the taxpayer.”

What becomes a burden, and to whom? Dream on about Solaris helping find a buyer. The day one new bed opens in Plainfield the Solaris administration will consider it to be competition.

Jerry's blog appears in the evening ( Tuesday 8:40pm) and is too verbose for a brief comment. I will agree with him that he is not obligated to publish any comments , pro or con. We all use our judgement and certainly would not post anything that is nasty or malicious . I would not expect the Assemblyman to post some of the anonymous remarks that he will get. There is no purpose for him to add the positive ones because all will think that they came from one of his shills. I would certainly hope that I do not publish anything that is in bad taste.

Jerry's Monday night blog

I have at 7AM just read Jerry Greens 8/4/08 blog which was posted at 9:43 PM last night. If it had been available when I drafted today's Muhlenberg Potpourri I might have revised some of my comments.

How were any of us to know that the Mayor and the Council and the Assemblyman had known for over a year that Solaris was planning to close the hospital? Perhaps if the approval of the subdivision of the campus had been made public we could have reacted sooner, even before the general elections.

John Gostal's remarks about independent audit of Solaris's bookis to verify the financial claims are justified. I know nothing about Mr. Green's projected costs regarding the property. Please clarify the figures. Was not the 4.5 million part of the 2008 state fiscal year grants to operating hospitals? Obviously it was too little.

You all must read Jerry Green's Page. There is much of interest and perhaps some disinformation