Muhlenberg Kabuki

Kabuki was on my mind as the state's Health Advisory Commission conducted its public hearing into closing Plainfield's 131-year old Muhlenberg hospital at the PHS auditorium Tuesday evening. (For the Courier and Ledger reportage, see links at the end of this post.)

The audience which packed the room -- more than 1,000 attendees, I'm estimating -- were impassioned, angry, defiant, persuasive and occasionally funny (one Mr. Smith spelt his name ever-so-slowly for the court stenographer: S. M. I. T. H.) in their 3-minute presentations, which were strictly limited by the hearing's rulemeisters.

The hearing panel -- short of a quorum, as pointed out by BOE member Martin C.O.X. -- sat mostly stone-faced throughout the proceedings. And that is what first put me in mind of kabuki.

Kabuki is the highly stylized form of Japanese theater in which actors are made up in masks representing their characters, playing out scripts that are centuries old in a set number of acts and which often contain battle scenes such as we witnessed last evening. In one famous play, the death of the main character causes calamities to befall the capital city.

So, Plainfield witnessed its own Kabuki last evening --

• Plainfield elected officials, who never paid attention to the developing crisis until it was too late, put on their crocodile tears and thunderously declaimed their 'opposition' to the closing;
• others -- particularly Mayor Allen of North Plainfield and Council President Bencivenga of South Plainfield -- were compelling in both their passion and their citation of facts;
• the audience, crying out against injustice and cruel fate; and
• the state panel, standing in for the traditional Lord High Executioner.

All in all, a complete drama, though in American -- not Japanese -- guise.

Some astonishing things were expressed and learned from last evening's speakers, among them --

• there are 800 children with severe asthma in the Plainfield area, who will face life-threatening delays in getting hospital attention during an attack;
• 90% of pregnant clients of Neighborhood Health Services (formerly PHC) will not be allowed to deliver at JFK;
• minutes crucial to the survival of heart attack and stroke victims will be lost in being transported to another hospital and may lead to the death or permanent impairment of the victims.

Among the hundreds of attendees I recognized, there were a good number of off-duty cops, firefighters and other city workers -- many of them holding the ubiquitous POP 'Save Muhlenberg' placards.

Assemblyman Jerry Green -- who created a ruckus at Monday's City Council meeting by shouting within earshot of all at Councilor Cory Storch outside the Council chamber's (slightly ajar) door: "I've got things under control!" -- was present, as well as Councilor Storch, who was speaking out as a health care professional.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs lugged her four binders of letters of support to the podium when her turn came to speak, rather like a pathetic show-and-tell. Where was she at the beginning of her term, when she could have made a difference? (And then I had to hear her almost literally swipe my laundry list of issues and suggestions in her remarks -- so now I'm her speech writer, too?). She too, disingenuously, thundered out against the closing.

I expect the hearing panel will do what is sought of them and soon enough issue the much-desired execution order.

And so the play will end.

And then the calamities will begin.

---

Read the media reports here--

• Courier: "1,200 attend hearing to keep Muhlenberg open"
• Ledger: "Hearing on closing of hospital is packed"

-- Dan Damon

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.