Pascack Valley Hospital (PVH) had taken on an ill-advised expansion seemingly void of contingency planning. The Board of Directors, management, each ‘hoped’ for success. Now its bankruptcy, and what follows, will have a broad community impact.
The 20-acre site had a tax-free property status which negated a potential tax liability in excess of $2,000,000. As a result, Westwood taxpayers have carried a considerable annual investment out of their own pockets. A value that will diminish if the tax-free property status expands with less direct community benefit uses.
During the Master Plan reexamination in 2005, the Planning Board discussed the future of the community’s development. It is an effort repeated every 6 years that attempts to balance land use with evolving public concerns. A popular mantra considered at the time was, “We want a town, not a city.”
The Hospital/Service/Office Zone was part of those discussions. The Planning Board concluded that the hospital should have its own zone. They took into consideration that the site affected a broad area of residents.:
- It provided an accessible medical destination for many seniors and families.
- Acted as an economic generator, attracting outside revenue into the area, creating local jobs.
- Strengthened commercial property values, increasing residential location desirability.
Adding non-medical uses could have had an adverse effect on these aspects vis-a-vis site density, traffic, affordable housing requirements and the like. The governing body formalized the Planning Board’s recommendation in the autumn of 2006 by passing Ordinance 06-10. (See Related Documents)
Early 2005 discussions with hospital officials, regarding PVH’s cost effect on taxpayers, raised red flags on the hospital’s financial condition. Concerns grew when Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) failed to act upon their 2006, ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MoU) with PVH.
That MoU offered hope with a proposed acquisition that PVH would be there for the community. John Ferguson, HUMC’s president and CEO had stated, “We’re getting together not to consolidate the two hospitals, but to grow them.” (The Record, 11/02/06) That proposed idea was expected to be completed in early 2007. It did not happen as ‘proposed.’
The Council was asked in a meeting on May 22, 2007, for permission to allow the Mayor to investigate possible opportunities to assist the hospital should it falter. This was 4 months prior to the hospital declaring bankruptcy. That request was denied.
New construction expansion, MoU, assistance ideas, bankruptcy, events that came and went. All began with thoughts expressed in words that changed with time and evolving conditions.
Words are powerful tools. They can define a product, a service or an intention, but by themselves, are not actions. In business, words are memorialized in documents to reinforce intentions. The legal action here seeks to ensure a hospital survives the emotion of words and proposed good intentions – should conditions change.
