RWJBarnabas Health, which signed a letter of intent to acquire Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth earlier this month, has now signed a nonbinding LOI to add Hoboken University Medical Center and Christ Hospital in Jersey City to the system, RWJBH and CarePoint Health, the hospitals’ owner, announced Tuesday.
The LOI sets up the basic structure for the deal, the first step toward a definitive agreement, CarePoint and RWJBH said in a news release. A final deal is expected by year-end, they added, and would include various affiliates of the two hospitals.
CarePoint said in its release that it also has begun seeking a strategic partner for its third hospital, Bayonne Medical Center.
Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis had expressed concern about the future of the Bayonne hospital, saying, “This pending deal between CarePoint Health and RWJBarnabas Health reeks of an outright betrayal of our city and is certainly not good news for Bayonne Medical Center and our residents.”
However, a source told ROI-NJ that CarePoint had received multiple expressions of interest from potential partners.
The RWJBH deal would require due diligence by both systems, as well as customary state and federal approvals and other sign-offs.
RWJBH currently has 11 acute care hospitals, three acute care children’s hospitals and a pediatric rehabilitation hospital in its system — not including Trinitas or the CarePoint hospitals.
Hoboken University Medical Center is New Jersey’s first hospital, CarePoint noted, and has been in operation since 1863. It has 333 licensed beds, as well as a transitional care unit with 15 licensed long-term care beds, a 34-bay emergency room and OB/GYN emergency department, as well as a family birth unit. It treats more than 44,000 patients each year. The affiliated HUMC Neighborhood Health Center gets more than 22,000 visits each year.
Christ Hospital has served Jersey City for more than 140 years. It has 362 beds, as well as a state-certified stroke center and angioplasty center, as well as an ER and OB/GYN ER. It treats more than 47,667 patients each year, as well as providing other services. It, too, has an affiliated neighborhood health center.
The terms of the LOI include enhanced services and resources for the two hospitals, the release said.
