skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Memorial Day will be honored by Plainfield's veterans' organizations today as follows --9:00 AM - Memorial Services at the Evergreen Cemetery, Plainfield Avenue
9:30 AM - Memorial Services at St. Mary's Church, Liberty and West 6th Streets
10:00 AM - Services at the War Memorial, Watchung Avenue and East 7th Street
Several readers pointed out in reponse to yesterday's post on the media's ignoring Muhlenberg in the news of FY2009 aid for hospitals that Plainfield's Muhlenberg was indeed scheduled to get aid -- $7.3 million, and 11% increase over the previous year.
The fact is noted, but the point of my post was the media turning its backs, collectively, on Muhlenberg by not even referencing the most contentious hospital situation in the state at all.
A new question now must be pondered: What will happen to the $7.3 million if Solaris gets its way and Muhlenberg closes on June 15?
View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.
Is Muhlenberg becoming invisible? Plainfielders will find no comfort whatsoever in the fact that Muhlenberg is not even mentioned in today's stories about the proposal to chop $143 million off proposed charity care reimbursement to the state's hospitals in the coming fiscal year.
With scarce resources allocated on a tiered level -- Tier 1 hospitals giving the largest percentage of charity care and will get slight increases; those who give less charity care are either having their reimbursement cut or eliminated altogether.
Because the state is set up to look at the situation on a county-by-county basis, Trinitas in Elizabeth, the county's largest charity care provided will get an $8.8 million increase.
Muhlenberg, whose market area straddles three counties, isn't even on the radar.
Probably for two reasons --
- The above-mentioned County focus
- It's an indication the decision to close Muhlenberg is moot
This does not mean that JFK is doing any better -- according to the Courier story, it is looking at a gap of over $5 million.
All the talk of 'safety net' hospitals utterly leaves out of the picture Muhlenberg. To my mind, Muhlenberg is the POSTER CHILD for a 'safety net' hospital. Am I wrong?
So, here's the way it looks to me: Plainfield and its hospital population are being redlined once again, this time by the State.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Has Assemblyman Green simply stood by and let this happen?
View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.
Plainfield NJ