Kearny Journal, The (NJ)
Copyright 2007 The Republican Company, Springfield, MA.
All Rights Reserved
KEARNY, N.J. — Local officials are fuming about an apparent about face by the state Department of Health and Senior Services that will leave West Hudson without local paramedic coverage in the evenings and on weekends.
The cutbacks will take effect March 1, according to local officials.
In December, the state had denied a bid by the Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC) to curtail the service based at the former West Hudson Hospital site in Kearny between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. while simultaneously eliminating a Belleville-based paramedic unit that provided backup coverage for West Hudson.
The state rejected MONOC’s plans for the Kearny unit, but granted permission to cease operations of the Belleville unit, a move that to date has not materialized.
On January 23 MONOC sent a letter to Senior Assistant Health Commissioner David Gruber requesting permission to operate the Belleville unit round the clock seven days a week and only operate the West Hudson unit Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The letter by Jeff Behm, MONOC’s vice president of operations, did not provide a reason for the switch.
Behm had not returned a reporter’s phone call by press time.
Early last week the state approved MONOC’s request, contingent upon the Belleville unit remaining in operation round the clock and that MONOC representatives meet with town administrators and emergency medical services providers in Kearny, East Newark, North Arlington and Lyndhurst, which will all be affected by the cutbacks.
Harrison is also served by the Kearny MONOC unit, but was not specifically mentioned in the state’s letter.
At issue is the state’s two-tier Medicare reimbursement system, which provides reimbursement first to “Basic Life Support” services including local first aid squads, who transport patients to hospitals. “Advanced Life Support” paramedic units like MONOC are reimbursed only after BLS units are paid by the state, often at greatly reduced levels, according to officials from MONOC.
The state’s abrupt about face, rendered without warning to local officials, has left West Hudson politicians fuming and scrambling to find ways to overturn the decision.
Kearny Mayor Al Santos said he first heard of the state’s decision last Tuesday through Kearny Fire Chief Joseph Lapsanski, who received a notification message from a MONOC representative.
“This is a benefit the community had which is being taken away without so much as advance notice. It came as a complete surprise to me,” said Santos, who has fielded several calls from the state Office of Emergency Medical Services after complaining to Gov. Jon Corzine’s office.
“I was told and assured by the Office of Emergency Medical Services in December that they would not take action without the affected towns having input,” he added. “I don’t know what access MONOC had to the state agency and how many times they went to see the director. I didn’t get an answer. We didn’t even get anything remotely like due process. The very people who told me this wouldn’t happen made this decision.”
A state health department spokeswoman had not returned a reporter’s call by press time.
MONOC estimates the Belleville-based unit could reach Kearny within four minutes of receiving a call, according to information Santos received from the state.
“It could be four minutes if you live on Webster Avenue,” said Santos, citing a Kearny street located close to the Belleville bridge. “Perhaps that’s true for a portion of Kearny, but not for most of East Newark, Harrison, North Arlington and Lyndhurst.”
Santos has vowed to pursue legal action against the state.
In Harrison, Mayor Raymond J. McDonough said he would request that Corzine’s office authorize transferring the certificate of need MONOC currently holds to service the West Hudson area to the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark.
Newly-elected Harrison Councilman Lawrence Bennett has pledged to start a citizens’ movement to pressure state officials to rescind the decision.
“The problem I have with this whole thing is that we were able to have no input on this,” said Bennett, who lost his 18-year-old son to an asthma attack while waiting for a paramedic unit to arrive several years before the unit moved to West Hudson. “My problem is that the public never had any input, no public hearings. Nothing.”
Assemblywoman Joan Quigley had not been notified of the change when contacted by a reporter Monday. She pledged the support of herself and fellow Hudson Assemblyman Vincent Prieto to fight the state’s decision.
“If something has changed other than MONOC losing money, then we could take that into consideration,” Quigley said. “I don’t think that’s the case. I think the only thing that has changed is that MONOC is losing more money. My concern is not to make them a profit, it’s getting coverage for the people of West Hudson.”