April 22, 2009
Contact: Bill Murray / (609) 292-5199Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-26), Senator Kevin J. O'Toole (R-40), Senator Philip E. Haines (R-8), Senator Steve Oroho (R-24)
Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee expressed concern today that hospitals are being awarded funding based on political motives rather than need:
“State Commissioner of Heath and Senior Services Heather Howard today admitted that there are about 15 hospitals statewide in some condition of distress being monitored,” Karrow said. “It is important that New Jersey award financial aid to hospitals based on verifiable need to ensure that at-risk medical centers are able to weather the current financial condition. Additionally, the regulatory structure needs to be modernized to account for the impact of new technologies on health care.”
“In the past millions in bond monies were doled out to hospitals in crisis, now at least one hospital has filed for bankruptcy,” Pennacchio continued. “When these funds are disbursed without sufficient oversight, like in the case of Saint Mary’s Hospital in Passaic, taxpayers end up on the hook. This is unacceptable; New Jersey families already bear the highest overall state and local tax burden in the nation.
“In this economic climate, when rank and file employees are being asked for wage freezes and furloughs it is unconscionable that the Executive branch is handing out double digit pay raises,” Haines said. “If Governor Corzine is going to ask that everyone else make sacrifices then he must also insist that his own appointees follow the same policy.”
“New Jersey has more ambulatory care centers than New York and Pennsylvania combined,” O’Toole stated. “In order to guarantee a high level of health care in the state we need to ensure that all health care providers operate on a level playing field. Failure to do so will force traditional hospitals into consolidation, leaving only a few mega hospitals to care for New Jersey’s diverse population.
“Rural and suburban hospitals are often the only providers of medical services, from emergency care to mental health services in smaller communities,” Oroho concluded. “I certainly acknowledge that hospitals in the large urban centers are facing significant challenges. It is important to recognize that the rural and suburban hospitals are facing challenges just as severe. Obstacles that threaten the viability of those hospitals and threaten the delivery of medical services to rural and suburban population.”
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