Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs found time recently to chat up a reporter from the Press of Atlantic City about the Muhlenberg closure (see here).
The occasion was news that erstwhile Muhlenberg buyer Dr. Reddy Dandolu had surfaced as the last-minute savior of Kessler Memorial Hospital in Hammonton. The loss of Kessler, near the boundary between Atlantic and Camden counties, would leave South Jersey residents in the largely rural area with hospitals ranging from 13 to 33 miles distant.
Map from Press of A.C.
Dandolu had surfaced in April 2008 as a potential buyer for Muhlenberg, but was never regarded by its corporate parent Solaris Health System as a serious contender, though as late as mid-August Robinson-Briggs was 'thrilled' with the possibility of a Dandolu purchase (see Courier story here, and PT entry here).
In the Press story, Robinson-Briggs is quoted --
Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs said [the deal to buy Muhlenberg] dissolved due to an apparent disagreement between Dandolu’s DBR Healthcare and Muhlenberg officials over the terms and prices of the agreement. While Robinson-Briggs said her city helped facilitate the negotiations, she did not know how far along in the negotiation process the parties got.Note Mayor Sharon says she did not know how far along the negotiations got.
This just underscores the rap against her in the whole Muhlenberg closure business -- that she has never engaged in the BEST way that was open to her: AS A MEMBER OF THE MUHLENBERG BOARD, in which she still has not participated TO THIS DAY.
As president Teddy Roosevelt would have said, 'if you have a bully pulpit, why not use it'?
Nevertheless, this blithe spirit --
. . . [Robinson-Briggs] only had positive things to say about Dandolu and expressed a desire to still welcome him — and the acute-care facility he’d bring with him — to Plainfield.The mayor's crystal ball must be unplugged; Dandolu failed to deliver a $300,000 payment that was promised and necessary to stave off the hospital's closure.
“I wish him the best of luck and support with his new venture,” she said. “I wish he had enough money to buy both hospitals.”
This morning, both the Press of Atlantic City (see here) and Cherry Hill's Courier Post (see here) report that Kessler has definitively closed.
Looks like Dandolu doesn't eve have money enough to buy ONE hospital.
- Press of Atlantic City: "Kessler sale apparently failed; $300K deposit not sent"
- Courier, 8/12/08: "Plainfield mayor says buyer has been ID'ed for Muhlenberg"
- Plainfield Today, 8/13/08: "Muhlenberg: Will Dandolu rescue the hapless heroine?"
-- Dan Damon
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3 comments:
So Solaris and their due diligence was correct all along - Dandolu was never a serious contender to buy the hospital and never could produce any documentation for funding. Obviously Kessler did not perform the the same due diligence and they ended up looking like fools. Just another ridiculous "savior" like Bateman, the municipalities, Save Muhlenberg and Piscatelli.
To 8:23 AM --
So, you recommend that no one do anything and simply let a 131-year institution go down the tubes without so much as a whimper?
May your days be interesting!
How does pinning your hopes on a "buyer" with no financial backing who clearly couldn't consummate a sale help save the hospital? Wouldn't it have been worse for Muhlenberg to close on 2 days notice and be unable to pay employees their final paycheck? At least the Muhlenberg employees got severance.
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