Secaucus, N.J.-based Hudson Regional Hospital purchased the land Bayonne (N.J.) Medical Center sits on for $76 million, but who will operate the hospital going forward remains disputed, HudsonReporter.com reports.
HRH purchased the land from Avery Eisenreich for $76 million. Avery Eisenreich purchased it in November 2019.
Bayonne-based CarePoint Health, which is dissolving, entered into an agreement with West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health to operate two of its facilities.
CarePoint also agreed to sell BMC to a group known as BMC Hospital, an affiliate of for-profit surgery center operator Surgicore.
However, HRH believes the sale of the land gives it rights to operate BMC going forward. HRH is also in the process of acquiring another CarePoint Health facility. HRH said it would focus on closing that transaction before pivoting back to BMC.
BMC President Wayne Hatami called HRH's announcement about the land purchase a "gimmick." He added: "HRH is no closer to control over the land on which Bayonne Hospital operates. That will be decided by the courts, the Department of Health, and the eminent domain process already underway. Nothing HRH has done or can do changes the fact that CarePoint has both a lease that HRH must still respect (as HRH admitted in court) and that CarePoint and BMC have an exclusive agreement regarding the future operations of the hospital, which is the most critical issue at hand. The Bayonne community deserves an operator that is financially stable, will ensure access to high-quality health care, and will continue to operate the facility as a hospital and not turn it into a nursing home. Meanwhile HRH’s owner, Yan Moshe, faces a $65 million RICO conspiracy lawsuit involving fraudulent no-fault insurance claims and he operates surgery centers that have allegedly infected patients with HIV. That’s a dangerous track record that the people of Bayonne simply do not deserve."
Note: This story was updated Aug. 13 to add a statement from BMC President Wayne Hatami.