When hospitals conspire to keep hospitals closed.

[no_hypocrisy]

Englewood, Ridgewood hospitals go to court to stop reopening of Pascack Valley Hospital


Residents of the Pascack Valley and Northern Valley towns, along with their elected officials, have demanded the reopening of Pascack Valley Hospital with rallies, petitions, and letters. They cite the additional driving time to hospitals in Ridgewood, Hackensack, Teaneck and Englewood and sometimes crowded conditions at those hospitals.

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But the opponents’ briefs say that health regulations prohibit the health commissioner from considering factors like “community desire.” The factors to be considered, by law, “do not include stimulating the local economy or impacting local employment,” said Valley’s brief.

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http://www.northjersey.com/news/031011_Englewood_Ridgewood_hospitals_go_to_court_to_stop_reopening_of_Pascack_Valley_Hospital.html

BTW, Valley Hospital "worries" about "too many hospital beds" if Pascack is re-opened while at the same time is seeking to double its own bed capacity.