The Ridgewood News
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
BY MEGAN BURROW

A hearing to determine whether the legal battle to extend Pascack Valley Hospital’s license should be considered in the Law Division of the Superior Court of Bergen County or the Appellate Division in Trenton, originally scheduled for Jan. 22, has been postponed until Feb. 5 at the request of Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC).

The lawsuit was filed by HUMC’s attorney, William Harla of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Wisler, against the health department and two hospitals opposing Hackensack’s plan, The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, It seeks to prove that the license was automatically extended by the Permit Extension Act. The 2008 law was sponsored by state Sen. Paul Sarlo and designed to help development projects stalled during the recession.

The hospital’s license expired on Dec. 28 after a two-year extension granted by the previous state health commissioner when the hospital went bankrupt and closed in 2007.

The suit was pending before the Law Division in Hackensack before Valley filed a motion to transfer the case. The health department has filed a brief siding with Valley and Englewood, arguing that it belongs in the Appellate Division. Englewood’s lawyers have also filed a motion supporting the case’s transfer.

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