Listen to this articleThe basics:
- Heights University Hospital to close amid financial constraints
- Hudson Regional Health continues to operate emergency department 24/7
- Hospital served the community for 153 years; closure affects multi-specialty services
- State, regulators remain involved during transition
The new owners of Heights University Hospital announced Friday the 153-year-old former Christ Hospital in Jersey City will shut down due to financial constraints.
Hudson Regional Health took over the hospital in the wake of the CarePoint Health bankruptcy. It has since invested in the fast-growing health system, which now includes Secaucus University Hospital, Bayonne University Hospital, Hoboken University Hospital and Heights University Hospital in Jersey City.
But the operators say the combination of financial challenges and insufficient state funding has led to this decision.
NJBIZ has reported on this situation over the last few weeks.
Hudson Regional Health CEO Dr. Nizar Kifaieh released a statement Nov. 13 updating the situation.
Continuing services
“Unfortunately, despite best efforts by the leadership at Hudson Regional Hospital, it was informed this afternoon that the State will not be providing the critical funding needed to sustain the operations of Heights University Hospital,” said Kifaieh. “This will result in an interruption in tomorrow’s payroll processing and compromises its ability to execute the stabilization plan it was in the process of implementing. This includes our recent plans to operate a stand-alone emergency department, multi-specialty service practice and behavioral health.
“As a result, Heights University Hospital has filed a Certificate of Need for Closure with the Department of Health.”
On Nov. 14, officials held a press conference to further update the latest. HRH said the emergency department will remain open at Heights University Hospital.
Adam Alonso, chief strategist for HRH, noted the system spent 2025 navigating through an extremely complex bankruptcy and providing financial and operational support to transfer the hospital through that.
Heights University Hospital (former Christ Hospital):
The road here
“Throughout the process, there was a lot of pressure and assumptions made about the hospital system, which had already been in bankruptcy twice before,” said Alonso. He noted that Bayonne Medical Center and Hoboken University Medical Center are in great financial and operational shape. And continue to grow. “It was immediately identified that Christ Hospital, now Heights University Hospital, had significant financial pressure. Some unrelated to any operational capacity. Including the fact that six out of every 10 patients cannot afford the health care that they need.
“And therefore, we have endeavored to work with state government to secure the funds necessary to provide health care to those residents.”
Alonso said that HRH spent the summer into the fall trying to secure funding to deal with the operational and facility needs of the hospital.
In October, the state approved a $2 million lifeline for the facility. HRH said that while appreciated, more stable funding was needed.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to secure the state’s financial support to support this hospital.
– Adam Alonso, chief strategist, Hudson Regional Health
“Unfortunately, we have not been able to secure the state’s financial support to support this hospital,” said Alonso. “And so earlier this week, Heights University Hospital submitted a Certificate of Need for Closure, which would end operations as an acute care facility.
“However, we’ve made a commitment to continue to operate a standalone emergency department which continues to operate today and will continue to operate into the future. We will continue to provide health care out of our auxiliary building and provide multi-service care and other health care-related services from that site.
“We’re disappointed that this hospital is not going to continue as it has been for many decades in this community. But we remain extremely committed to providing health care to the Heights region and community.”
Ongoing presence
Kifaieh noted his history working for the then-Christ Hospital, and the impact and value it has had for the community.
“It’s really with a heavy heart that we got to this point. I take this really personal because I am a population health management expert. I am an emergency medicine physician,” he said. “Our goal is to make sure there is no interruption in patient care in the area.
“We had extensive communication with the Department of Health, the commissioner, and all of the directors and staff overseeing different parts of the regulatory process and policies and so on.” He continued, “We did inform them about all the difficulties we’re having financially; we did inform them that, absent funding, this week we have no choice but to go through an orderly transition of the services of the hospital – with the goal to maintain at least an emergency department available 24/7 with the 24/7 ambulance parked outside for acute emergencies like heart attacks and strokes.
It’s really with a heavy heart that we got to this point. I take this really personal because I am a population health management expert. I am an emergency medicine physician.
– Dr. Nizar Kifaieh, Hudson Regional Health CEO
“They asked us to submit a CN-3 application, which we did immediately. So, they were informed all along about the difficulties – the timeline, the time crunch and all these issues that we’ve been encountering. With the process that we’re going through today, we are going to be maintaining an emergency department open in the area. We’re working with the Department of Health and state regulators in terms of defining what that’s going to look like – the duration that’s required, and so on.
“And we believe that having an emergency department open in this area is really essential, at least at this point.”
Patients first
Kifaieh said HRH is also committed to and has made investments at the medical office building across the street.
“We will have the basic services just like an emergency department – 24/7, radiology presence, laboratory presence,” he explained. “To make sure that we have the ability to provide care to the patients in the area.
“We went through a downsizing phase a few weeks ago. During that time, we had a seamless execution of the plan. There were no patient issues whatsoever. No patient care issues, no quality issues. Whatever transfers were made to our sister hospitals – or even hospitals outside of the system – went on without any hiccups.”
He said that health department surveyors have been on hand for the last few weeks. A state monitor has also been onsite over the last year.
“And they can all attest to the fact that despite all the financial difficulties, we have had zero patient care issues. And we intend to maintain it the same.”
Kifaieh then spoke about the future of hospital employees and the opportunities within the system.
“As far as the employees are concerned, there are lots of vacancies within our hospital system,” said Kifaieh. “Lots of vacancies at other hospitals – upwards of potentially 300 positions that are available.”
NJDOH
The New Jersey Department of Health issued a statement to NJBIZ about the situation.
“The New Jersey Department of Health was notified yesterday afternoon that Heights University Medical Center failed to fund their payroll and started transferring the last 14 patients to surrounding hospitals,” a spokesperson told NJBIZ. “In good faith, the Department advanced nearly $2 million in charity care funding to Heights University Medical Center last month to assist the hospital in avoiding a disruption in services.
“This support was in addition to prior charity care advancements in FY23, FY24, FY25, as well as $10,625,000 issued in 2024 to then-CarePoint to support the system through bankruptcy. The State provided an additional $2 million grant last month to assist Heights University Medical Center in making payroll and avoiding an abrupt closure.
“Despite all of these efforts, Hudson Regional Hospital has failed to fund their payroll this week and failed to fully perform as it represented in its Plan of Restructuring, which was approved by the Bankruptcy Court as a condition of exiting bankruptcy. And it has not followed through on its commitments to the community it serves and to the State to turn things around after taking over the hospital.”
Ongoing oversight
The Health Department confirmed that its survey team has been onsite to ensure the health and safety of patients at the facility.
“The census at the facility as of yesterday afternoon was 14 patients,” the statement continued. “As a regulator, our role is to ensure that hospitals are providing quality care and maintaining the full range of acute care services required by Certificate of Need and under an Acute Care Hospital License. We will continue to hold Heights University Medical Center and Hudson Regional Hospital accountable through this closure with patient health and safety as our top priority.”
Please stay with NJBIZ for the very latest on this developing situation.
