JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) — Jersey City police arrested two people after a protest outside Heights University Hospital escalated on Saturday afternoon. This, after dozens of people were sprawled out on the hospital’s property in an act of defiance.
The hospital’s owners, Hudson Regional Health, planned to suspend emergency services beginning Saturday night after shuttering the rest of the hospital last fall.
“Jersey City is a city of 300,000 people – to lose the amount of ER beds and acute care beds that we lose here would mean that Jersey City would become a healthcare desert,” said protester Isaac Jimenez.
A hospital spokesman cited a projected loss of $30 million this year. The city is now filing an emergency injunction to keep the hospital open.
“You have a company that thinks its profits are more important than the lives of the people in this region,” said Jersey City Major James Solomon.
“We need to look at every legal obligation we have from taking this property through litigation, through helping in receivership, and encouraging state and county investigations into what happened here, because there’s certainly poor behavior,” said councilman Thomas Zuppa.
Hudson Regional Health says despite investing more than $100 million into Heights University Hospital, it lost about $74 million last year. It has partnered with Alliance Community Healthcare to provide a range of primary and preventive care to residents in light of the changes.
“I don’t think that’s much of a plan, we need the beds in Jersey City,” said HPAE President Debbie White.
“I’m getting older. I’ve twice needed emergency care, and I came here and I feel like they saved my eye. And then I broke a couple of ribs,” said protester Mary Dooley.
It is unclear of Hudson Regional Health will go forward with the suspension as expected as a decision awaits on the emergency injunction relief.
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