Bankruptcy battle over Christ Hospital continues Tuesday

After Christ Hospital stakeholders split their support for bids during Friday's bankruptcy proceeding, Judge Morris Stern scheduled an additional hearing for Tuesday afternoon as the battle for the financially distressed hospital rages on.

The hearing, at noon, will look at new bids put forth by Hudson Holdco LLC, which operates Bayonne Medical Center and Hoboken University Medical Center, and the partnership between Jersey City Medical Center and Community Healthcare Associates LLC, after bidding was reopened.

Jersey City offered the "highest and best bid" when the original bankruptcy auction was held, but after the Christ Hospital board of trustees backed the Hudson Holdco bid, Stern reopened the bidding. In the second round of bids, Holdco came out as the highest bidder, between $600,000 and $700,000 higher than the Jersey City/CHA bid.

It is possible Stern will elect to hold a full hearing on Tuesday with witness testimony or proceed with the information already made available to the court. No decision is required to be made Tuesday.