Opponents file dozens of documents in bid to block Pascack Valley's reopening

October 14. 2011 1:31PM

Opponents file dozens of documents in bid to block Pascack Valley's reopening

Hackensack University Medical Center now operates an emergency department at the former Pascack Valley Hospital. (NJBIZ file photo)

With state Health Commissioner Mary E. O'Dowd expected to decide next month whether Pascack Valley Hospital, in Westwood, should be reopened by Hackensack University Medical Center, opponents on Friday released dozens of documents and a lengthy statement arguing there is no need for the facility's 128 additional hospital beds, which they say will harm Bergen County hospitals that are now stronger financially in the wake of Pascack's 2007 closure.

The statement, by Englewood Hospital and Medical Center to O'Dowd, also raised questions about Hackensack UMC's for-profit partner in the new hospital, Texas-based Legacy Hospital Partners. According to the statement, the current chairman and CEO of Legacy "were executives with Columbia/HCA (now HCA) in the 1990s, when Columbia/HCA was implicated in the largest Medicare fraud in U.S. history. At the time, these executives were supervising dozens of Columbia/HCA hospitals found guilty of Medicare fraud. The aggregate fines and penalties totaled $1.7 billion — the largest amount ever assessed for Medicare fraud."

The two Legacy executives, CEO Dan Moen and Chairman James Shelton, were not named or charged by the U.S. Justice Department in its prosecution of the Medicare fraud case. Rick Scott, who was CEO of Columbia/HCA when the fraud occurred, resigned from the company in 1997, and became governor of Florida in January 2011.

Legacy spokeswoman Patricia Ball said the company would welcome thorough scrutiny of Moen and Shelton: "They are very well respected in the health care industry, and any investigation into either one of them would be very positive for LHP."

But the application "speaks for itself," said Hackensack UMC spokeswoman Nancy Radwin in a prepared statement. "The process has been reaffirmed by the New Jersey Supreme Court, and legal attempts have been dismissed."

"LHP is comprised of talented individuals committed to improving access and quality of care in the communities they serve. The fact that they have embraced a partnership approach to Pascack Valley and committed $100 million to enhancements to facilities, technology and capital improvements demonstrates their commitment to making Hackensack University Medical Center at Pascack Valley a reality," Radwin said.

In an interview Friday, Michael Pietrowicz, Englewood's senior vice president for planning, and the hospital's outside counsel, James M. Hirschhorn, of Sills, Cummis & Gross, said the hospital submitted 32 questions to the Department of Health that it believed should be addressed before the reopening is considered, but instead the department deemed Hackensack UMC's application complete, and scheduled an Oct. 19 public hearing on the issue in Westwood without first addressing the questions.

Battle lines drawn

As commissioner, O'Dowd decides whether Bergen County needs to reopen the hospital; to do so, she will weigh two diametrically opposing views of the fact on the ground: Englewood contends years of expert analysis and hospital industry experience proves there's a surplus of hospital beds in Bergen County, while Hackensack says its hospital operates at capacity, and could easily fill the 128 beds it plans to open at Pascack Valley next year, following a major renovation.

Hackensack UMC now operates a satellite emergency department at Pascack, which it opened shortly after acquiring the bankrupt hospital. Hackensack UMC CEO Robert Garrett contends Pascack Valley didn't close for lack of patient demand, but because it made several risky financial decisions, including a major investment in a new wing, and quit the hospital network of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state's largest health insurer.

Seasoned health care experts in New Jersey say politics will play a role in the decision — and that politics always is a factor with hospitals, which invariably rally support from their legislators and the citizens they serve. In an Oct. 10 letter to O'Dowd, Englewood contended the Pascack Valley process "has been corrupted by politics." During his campaign, Gov. Chris Christie visited Pascack Valley and expressed his support for its reopening; Christie's office has declined to comment on the matter while it is before the Health Department.

Radwin rejected that notion.

"Hackensack University Medical Center is confident that the process is fair, and that the state will act in the best interest of the residents of Bergen County," she said.

Pietrowicz said Englewood would lose nearly $15 million if it loses the patients it now serves from the 14 towns that used to use Pascack Valley. "We would have to look at services to eliminate or cut back on … and hundreds of employees would be laid off," he said. Englewood, he added, has revenue of about $360 million and generates an annual surplus of between $1 million and $5 million "that we use to invest in equipment, staff, technology."

In their questions for the state, Englewood said its own construction analysis puts the cost of renovating Pascack Valley at $88 million, about double the estimate by Hackensack UMC. Pietrowicz argued Pascack Valley would be ideal as a medical mall, with a satellite emergency department and other health care services, such as outpatient medical, home health.