The Record
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
BY LINDY WASHBURN

The next stop in the fight over whether Hackensack University Medical Center should be allowed to reopen Pascack Valley Hospital will be the Appellate Division of Superior Court, after a ruling Monday from state Superior Court Judge Peter E. Doyne.

Doyne declared that the proper jurisdiction for determining if the state’s Permit Extension Act of 2008 applies to the Westwood hospital license is the Appellate Division, not Superior Court.

That appeal could take as long as a year — and it would center solely on whether the deadline for reactivating the license could be extended beyond last Dec. 28, not on whether Hackensack’s application to do so should be approved.

The two hospitals opposed to reopening the Westwood hospital considered Monday’s ruling a victory. The longer the region goes without a hospital in Westwood, the harder it will be to prove that one is needed, they say.

“A new and unnecessary hospital only serves to weaken” the health care system in Bergen County, said Megan Fraser, a spokeswoman for The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. “Since it opened its doors almost 60 years ago, Valley has welcomed patients from the Pascack Valley area.”

Englewood Hospital and Medical Center said through its spokeswoman that “Our dedicated physicians, nurses and other staff members have been providing uninterrupted, high-quality care to surrounding communities since [Pascack Valley Hospital] closed, and we continue to assist local towns, expand outreach efforts and provide more health care services to these communities.”

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