The Record
Tuesday, Dec 1, 2009
BY MARY JO LAYTON

Englewood Hospital and Medical Center’s admissions surged by 2,000 and the hospital turned a profit after a string of losses, as Pascack Valley Hospital sank into bankruptcy and closed.

But the gains were short-lived. Admissions are declining again and the hospital recently laid off employees.

“This only strengthens the argument” that Pascack Valley should not reopen, said Michael Pietrowicz, Englewood’s senior vice president of planning.

Supporters of Hackensack University Medical Center’s plan to reopen Pascack disagree.

“Englewood Hospital will not close because 128 beds are opening in the Westwood community,” said Robert C. Garrett, Hackensack’s president. “The hospitals that exist today will continue to exist. There’s going to be a need for all of these beds.”

Would reopening Pascack put Englewood out of business? That question is being hotly debated behind closed doors in Trenton as the Dec. 28 expiration date nears on the license of the Westwood hospital.

Englewood and The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood strongly oppose the reopening. They say there’s no need because the county has a surplus of hospital beds.

“The argument that opening a new hospital will have no harmful effect on existing hospitals is just ludicrous,” said Megan Fraser, Valley’s spokeswoman. “The issue has to be about having the strongest health care system possible for all residents of our region.”

Read the entire article at northjersey.com