Mar 08 2008
bm253 The Threat of Hospital Closings in Newark
Why are two very needed hospitals in the city of Newark, NJ under threat of closing down? Money, politics, business.. what are the reasons being given and how do they hold up under some real scrutiny? My guests: Ken Walker of the Daily Newarker and Christina Hilo of the NUSSJ and SaveStJames.com help dissect the situation.
We Discuss:
- St. James and Columbus hospitals
- The hospital debt and funding
- Cathedral Health, who they are
- Possible Scenarios
- Uninsured Patients
- The difficulty of organizing in an immigrant community
- Latest Meetings
Music:
Jonathan Richman - Orgin of Love
Okkervil River - Our Life is not a Movie or Maybe
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[...] The Threat of Hospital Closings in Newark [...]
Your reporting touched on the following law as part of the source of funding difficulties.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and_Active_Labor_Act
It’s important to note that it was passed in 1986 during the Reagan administration. It would be useful to revisit the politics behind it, because on the face of it it is unusual for a extreme right-wing administration to pass such a law. However, my feeling was that the problem of “patient dumping” was so acute that there would have been effective action to bring about universal health coverage. This was very much the least that could have been done to deal with the PR crisis.