Jersey City’s only remaining hospital operating at or near capacity after Heights closure
Doctors report longer waits and advise some patients to seek care elsewhere
Two months after the closure of Heights University Hospital’s emergency department, Jersey City Medical Center is operating at or near capacity, with doctors advising some patients to seek care elsewhere as the city’s only remaining acute-care hospital struggles to meet demand.
The Jersey City Times has reported extensively on the strain facing Jersey City Medical Center and its staff since Heights University Hospital closed its emergency department on March 14. The facility, formerly known as Christ Hospital, had served residents of Jersey City’s Heights neighborhood for decades.
For generations, Christ Hospital served many low-income, uninsured, and underinsured residents in the city of 300,000 people.
According to physicians working at Jersey City Medical Center, the loss of Heights University Hospital has funneled large numbers of patients into the city’s remaining hospital, leading to longer waits and significant strain on staff. Resident physicians have reported preparing for overwhelming overnight shifts and, in some cases, advising stable patients to seek care at hospitals in neighboring communities to avoid lengthy waits and receive treatment more quickly.
Hudson Regional Health, which owned Heights University Hospital, said the facility was losing tens of millions of dollars annually and could not continue operating without additional financial support. The company closed the emergency department despite opposition from city officials.
Jersey City officials sought an emergency court order to keep the hospital open.
Mayor James Solomon accused Hudson Regional Health of intentionally reducing services at the hospital and argued that the operator had failed to comply with state requirements governing the closure of healthcare facilities. The city filed for an emergency injunction in Superior Court, arguing that the hospital had failed to follow procedures required under state law before closing a facility that served a city of roughly 300,000 residents.
In a statement issued when the city sought to force the hospital emergency room to remain open, Solomon said Hudson Regional Health’s actions threatened healthcare access for residents and alleged the company had failed to meet its legal obligations before closing the facility.
But a Superior Court judge denied the city’s request for emergency relief, allowing the emergency department to close and emergency patients to be diverted to other hospitals, including Jersey City Medical Center and Hoboken University Medical Center.
The dispute is part of a broader legal battle over the future of the hospital property.
The owners of Heights University Hospital have sued Jersey City over zoning changes that they say blocked a redevelopment proposal for the site, which would have included a new hospital, assisted-living facilities, and more than 2,200 residential units.
While the owners have argued that the zoning changes were arbitrary and inconsistent with recommendations from the city’s planning department and master plan, Jersey City officials have defended the ordinance, saying it was intended to preserve the possibility of returning acute-care medical services to the site and prevent a luxury housing development from replacing a community hospital. The hospital’s owners are seeking to have the zoning changes overturned.
A public hearing scheduled by the New Jersey State Health Planning Board to consider the hospital’s closure was canceled after a temporary restraining order was filed in Hudson County Superior Court on behalf of Heights University Hospital.
The closure og Heights University Hospital prompted Assemblyman Raj Mukherji to introduce legislation aimed at preventing abrupt hospital shutdowns by requiring greater notice, oversight, and review before healthcare facilities can cease operations.
New Jersey already has an extensive regulatory framework governing hospital closures. Under the state’s health care laws and regulations, hospitals generally cannot simply shut down essential services overnight. The process typically involves notice requirements, review by the Department of Health, opportunities for public input, and, in some cases, a review by the State Health Planning Board. The board’s primary responsibility is reviewing Certificate of Need applications (e.g., changes in hospital ownership, bed capacity, or new facility services) and making recommendations on their approval.
Have you or a loved one been affected by the closure of Heights University Hospital? Are you a patient, family member, doctor, nurse, hospital employee, first responder, or healthcare worker with information about the closure or its impact on Jersey City? We want to hear from you. Please reach out and share your experience. We read every email.
Krystal Knapp is the founder of The Jersey Vindicator and the hyperlocal news website Planet Princeton. Previously she was a reporter at The Trenton Times for a decade.