Mayor asks Hoboken council to bond for $5 million for hospital bankruptcy settlement
Sep 20, 2011 | 1880 views | 4 4 comments | 15 15 recommendations | email to a friend | print

HOBOKEN - Mayor Dawn Zimmer is turning to the City Council and the taxpayers of Hoboken to help achieve a settlement in the bankruptcy proceedings of Hudson Healthcare Inc., the non-profit manager of Hoboken University Medical Center.

Before the sale of the city-owned hospital to HUMC Holdco, a group that also owns Bayonne Medical Center, can be completed, the claims must be settled. The potential new owners have said they would chip in $5 million for the settlement, according to sources.

Zimmer sent a memo to the City Council on Tuesday afternoon asking for approval of a bond ordinance for $5 million at the council meeting on Wednesday night.

Sources have said that the creditors asked for somewhere between $8 million and $10 million from the city in a meeting on Monday.

"Even if the full amount of this authorization were offered to the HHI Creditors Committee, there can be no assurance that they will accept a settlement on terms that can be achieved with this contribution," Zimmer said in her memo to the council.

Zimmer said to the council in her memo that if six members ( a super majority) do not vote for the bond ordinance, "then the hospital will be forced to close, most probably by the end of October." Zimmer currently has five allies on the council, meaning one other council member would have to vote for the ordinance.

If the hospital were to close, the taxpayers would be responsible for the $52 million bond guarantee, plus interest. The city voted to save the hospital in 2007 by guaranteeing bonds, and Zimmer has said she would like to sell the hospital to a private buyer who would keep the facility as a hospital.

For more on this story, keep reading HudsonReporter.com. - Ray Smith

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Comments
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greenshirt
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September 21, 2011
Beth Mason is still pushing her sabotage to crush the hospital in public too! Her call for a deed restriction is nonsense as the State of NJ already regulates any sale to Holdco requiring the hospital stay a hospital for seven years.

The restriction is a death knell to saving the hospital and that was stated at the Monday HUMC meeting by Holdco that any such insertion would end the sale.

Beth Mason and her operatives are saying give the creditors $10 million and she has been speaking on behalf of the unions. Isn't Beth Mason suppose to represent Hoboken?

Enough of her double dealing. She has put the hospital in jeopardy with her unethical and illegal actions.

The FBI should come and arrest her and her friend Lane Bajardi. Hoboken has seen enough oftheir "convenient politics."

FBI, Hoboken is ready when you are.
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DancingRudy
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September 20, 2011
So Convenient - did Mason illegally contact the creditors or their representatives and undermine the city's negotiating posture? If she did it raises serious legal and ethical issues and she should fully disclose those contacts to the public and the council, including any contacts made by her representatives including family members. Remember - sunshine is the best disinfectant. Mrs. Mason needs to let everybody know where she got the $10 million number she's been telling the press about since she clearly did not get that number from the city side.
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ConvenientPolitics
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September 20, 2011
Zimmer is in trouble. It appears they inflated the purchase price by 20 million so she could continue to cozy up with Governor Christie. It's no secret people involved in the purchase were contributors to Christe's campaign. Furthermore, Bhalla's arrogant and sexist behavior towards Mason is appalling, but not surprising. Mason has been an advocate for the hospital for both the residents and transparency, however Zimmer and her blind allies continue to vilify her for speaking out for all of Hoboken. For Scarinci to call foul is very telling of how this deal doesn't pass the smell test. I hope Mason continues to probe the deal since Zimmer is not very forthcoming and Hoboken needs a hospital not another monstrosity(development)in Hoboken.
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DancingRudy
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September 20, 2011
Why was Mason telling everyone that the City would bond for $10 million? Did she negotiate privately with the creditors and tell them she'd support a bond in that amount if Zimmer and Holdco agreed to her terms? If she did, wouldn't that undermine the City's negotiating position and be unethical to boot? It sure sounds from the press accounts like she was talking to the creditors herself. Worth asking her the question don't you think?
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