Hospital Closer to Becoming For-Profit

The state Attorney General's office has approved plans for Memorial Hospital of Salem County to become the first for-profit acute-care facility in New Jersey.

The decision, made public on Friday, comes just a few weeks after the state health commissioner also approved the plan. It now goes to a county judge, who is to rule Aug. 27 on the proposal to sell the 140-bed hospital to Brentwood, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems Inc.

The recommendation issued by the attorney general's office calls for $14.6-million to be allocated to a foundation that would cover nonprofit health care at the facility. The state law that regulates the change in the hospital's business status requires that a certain percentage of its assets be set aside for nonprofit care.

Thomas McGoff, the hospital's interim president, said he was pleased to hear of the decision.

"This is a very creative solution to a problem that is everywhere. It goes far beyond Salem County," McGoff told the Gannett State Bureau. "The decision was based on criteria of what is best for the community."

Author: 6 ABC-AP