An Open Letter to the Communities of Bergen County
March 11, 2010
Dear Fellow Community Member,
Better Healthcare for Bergen County
As you know, healthcare is what policymakers at all levels of government are talking about these days. Here in Bergen County, we know that the best healthcare is available when our community hospitals are strong and healthy.
For years, The Valley Hospital and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center have been proud to care for thousands of patients from the Pascack Valley communities, and have offered complimentary community health education programs and screenings to hundreds of residents from the Northern Valley region. In the past year alone, our hospitals have offered community health events in Westwood, Park Ridge, Montvale, Washington Township, Oradell, Hillsdale, Tenafly, Norwood, Old Tappan and Woodcliff Lake.
And our doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals have shared information and knowledge on a wide variety of topics including pain management, signs of a heart attack, healthy choices for a healthy heart, the importance of a good night’s sleep, and improving one’s memory.
Rational Healthcare Planning
We continue to strongly oppose the plan proposed by Hackensack University Medical Center to open a new, for-profit acute-care hospital in Westwood. We oppose the plan for numerous reasons: a new hospital adds to the current overcapacity of unused hospital beds, it duplicates medical services, eliminates jobs, has the potential to financially damage existing hospitals, and directly contradicts rational regional healthcare policy.
We urge area hospitals to come together to explore other viable options to an acute-care hospital. For example, Westwood would benefit from medical outpatient services that would directly help the community and create new jobs. This could include a range of many outpatient services, including physical and occupational therapy, radiology, laboratory and dialysis services. It could include a long-term care facility; a hospice care facility and a sub-acute care facility for those not yet ready to return home after a hospital stay. Rational healthcare planning is providing programs and services that the region actually needs, not adding inpatient beds that are already available.
Now is the time to get healthcare right. We call upon our colleagues at all Bergen County hospitals to commit to establishing outpatient medical services on the site of the former Pascack Valley Hospital. Together, we can provide the right solution at the right time.
Sincerely,
Audrey Meyers, President and CEO, The Valley Hospital
Douglas Duchak, President and CEO, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
