HOBOKEN - After conflicting information was released Wednesday about whether the sale of Hoboken University Medical Center to a private company was dead, sources said other options may exist to keep the facility open.

The Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority, the municipal board selling the city-owned hospital, was in negotiations on Thursday morning discussing "another option" to keep the hospital open, according to sources and a published article, after the City Council voted Wednesday night against a request for $5.5 million to chip in for a bankruptcy settlement for the hospital's operator.

For the hospital to be sold, certain aspects of its finances must be in order, including those related to its recent bankruptcy.

Creditors in the bankruptcy were asking for more money from the city, and a vote against the $5.5 million would lead to a hospital shutdown, Mayor Dawn Zimmer said.

Wednesday night, after the vote, HMHA chairperson Toni Tomarazzo said the council's vote was the last chance for the hospital to survive.

But a few hours later, Tomarazzo said there may be another option to save the hospital, according to the report. The report states that Tomarazzo refused to elaborate on what new developments could save the deal.

In addition, other companies, including one in Connecticut, have said they would like to buy the hospital. Foes of Zimmer have said the deal with the current purchaser has been kept too much in the dark and have asked why other bidders weren't considered.

The parties were due back in bankruptcy court on Thursday. - Ray Smith