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>Remembering 9/11
Category: Village of Ridgewood
>New research further debunks any link between measles vaccine and autism
>LAURAN NEERGAARD
AP Medical Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ New research further debunks any link between measles vaccine and autism, work that comes as the nation is experiencing a surge in measles cases fueled by children left unvaccinated.
Years of research with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, better known as MMR, have concluded that it doesn’t cause autism. Still, some parents’ fears persist, in part because of one 1998 British study that linked the vaccine with a subgroup of autistic children who also have serious gastrointestinal problems. That study reported that measles virus was lingering in the children’s bowels.
Only now have researchers rigorously retested that finding, taking samples of youngsters’ intestines to hunt for signs of virus with the most modern genetic technology. There is no evidence that MMR plays any role, the international team _ which included researchers who first raised the issue _ reported Wednesday.
“Although in fact there was evidence that this vaccine was safe in the bulk of the population, it had not been previously assessed with respect to kids with autism and GI complaints,” said Dr. W. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, who led the work published in PLoS One, the online journal of the Public Library of Science.
“We are confident there is no link between MMR and autism,” Lipkin said.
Added co-author Dr. Larry Pickering of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “I feel very certain that it is a safe vaccine.”
Measles, a highly infectious virus best known for its red skin rash, once routinely sickened thousands of children a year and killed hundreds, until childhood vaccinations made it a rarity in this country. But so far this year, the U.S. has counted 131 measles cases, the most in a decade. Most patients were unvaccinated. Some were infants too young for their first MMR shot, but nearly half involved children whose parents rejected vaccination, the CDC reported last month.
No one knows just how many autism patients also suffer gastrointestinal disorders, pain that they may not be able to communicate. But Lipkin said that by some estimates, up to a quarter may be affected.
The MMR fear was that the vaccine’s weakened measles virus somehow lodged in and inflamed intestines, allowing waste products to escape and reach the central nervous system, Lipkin said. So his team had two questions: Does measles virus really persist in children with both disorders and not other youngsters? And did vaccination precede the GI complaints which in turn preceded autism?
Researchers studied 25 children with both autism and GI disorders, and another 13 children with the same GI disorders but no neurologic problems. The youngsters _ the average age was 5 _ all were undergoing colonoscopies for their GI conditions anyway, allowing tissue samples to be tested for genetic traces of measles virus. All had been vaccinated at younger ages.
The tests uncovered traces of measles genetic material in the bowels of one boy with autism _ and one boy without autism. That doesn’t prove virus never temporarily lodged in more children, but it contradicts the earlier study that raised concern.
Nor was there a relationship with vaccine timing: Just five of the 25 autistic children had MMR precede GI complaints that in turn preceded autism symptoms.
Researchers consulted some prominent vaccine critics in designing the study. California advocate Rick Rollens praised the work but said it didn’t eliminate other vaccine concerns that deserve similar study. Meanwhile, he said it should draw much-needed attention to the suffering of patients like his son, who has both autism and GI disorders.
“No longer can mainstream medicine ignore the parents’ claims of significant GI distress,” he said.
>N.J. gives traffic camera program a test drive
>
Monday, September 08, 2008
BY SAMANTHA HENRY
Associated Press
A controversial pilot program that uses red light cameras to catch traffic violators is about to get under way in New Jersey.
Twenty-one municipalities from around the state have applied to the five-year program so far, but only 12 will be accepted for the first year, according to NJDOT spokesman Timothy Greeley. Towns will be notified if they are accepted into the program beginning this month.
Lawrence is one of the towns that have applied to join the pilot program, and officials there hope cameras can be installed at the intersection of Route 1 and Franklin Corner Road, which they consider one of the most dangerous crossroads in the township.
The devices take digital photographs of vehicles that run red lights or otherwise disregard traffic signals. A color copy of the photo, along with a ticket, is mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner.
Towns must first pass local ordinances approving the use of the cameras before applying to the state program. State officials review each application to see that it meets criteria, including whether other accident-reducing methods have been explored and whether a town has accurately timed street lights.
Municipalities selected for the program will be allowed to install traffic cameras at high-volume intersections.
The Route 1/Franklin Corner Road intersection in Lawrence sees more than 6,000 cars during evening rush hour. More than 5 percent of all traffic accidents in Lawrence occurred at that intersection last year according to police information. Most of the 88 accidents were rear-end crashes that Daniel Posluszny, chief of police, said were caused by driver inattention.
The New Jersey towns will join more than 300 U.S. communities in 25 states that use the cameras, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. They are used in major cities such as New York, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington.
Opponents of the cameras criticize the practice as a clandestine surveillance method that infringes on civil liberties and denies drivers the right to contest a traffic ticket issued by an unseen accuser.
“Our point of view is that red light cameras are a scam, not just a money making venture,” said Steve Carrellas, coordinator of the New Jersey chapter of the National Motorists Association. “If there’s a real red light running problem at an intersection, putting a red light camera there doesn’t fix the underlying problems of an intersection.”
Supporters of the idea, such as Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, who sponsored New Jersey’s legislation approved in January, says such initiatives cut down on speeding and dramatically reduce the number of accidents.
“It makes intersections safer, people safer and cuts down on injuries,” Wisniewski said. “I’ve heard all types of opposition to it, about ‘big brother’ getting involved, but there’s no difference if a police officer is preventing them for running a red light.”
Critics also say that red light camera programs can be abused by cash-strapped municipalities trying to generate revenues.
“These days, with towns hurting, they can claim it’s for safety but they certainly love the revenues,” Carrellas said. “If they claim safety, then use the money to fix the intersection, not to reap money from it.”
Wisniewski acknowledges the program is cost-effective way to help police departments augment their manpower, but dismisses critics who say it’s strictly a revenue generator.
“It’s not a line to money-grab,” Wisniewski said. “The way to enforce motor vehicle regulations is through fines. We have fines for reckless driving — not because we’re going to fine people and make money — but because it’s a deterrent.”
Motorists who fail to obey traffic signals in New Jersey get two points on their license and face fines ranging from $85 to $140. Those caught by a camera would get similar fines but no license points.
A survey earlier this year by the AAA Clubs of New Jersey found that about 3 of every 4 Garden State drivers supported the use of cameras to catch drivers who run red lights. AAA polled 1,000 drivers.
David Weinstein, a spokesman for AAA, said red light camera programs have had mixed success around the country.
“It’s something that needs to be talked about publicly, because red light cameras, there’s two sides of it,” Weinstein said. “The opportunity is there to increase safety at intersections, but the opportunity is also there to increase revenues without any safety side effects.”
The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running, a group supported by the red light camera industry, says an analysis of 150 traffic studies shows by an 11-to-1 margin that cameras reduce fatalities, crashes and traffic violations.
The campaign’s executive director, Leslie Blakey, says the cameras are meant as a deterrent, not as punishment.
“Driving goes up in the U.S. about 40 percent every 10 years,” Blakey said. “Law enforcement personnel, the number of cops available to issue tickets has remained static, and in some cases has decreased, and in the same time frame we keep adding more responsibilities to law enforcement and do not give those departments anywhere near enough modern tools.”
Blakey said the cameras average about $50,000 to $75,000 each, and more complicated intersections can require up to $150,000 in equipment. She said it’s still a cost effective solution for many towns.
Critics and proponents alike say they’ll be watching New Jersey’s pilot program closely to see how effective it is.
“They’ve worked in some places, and in some places they’ve been abused,” Weinstein said. “So it remains to be seen how it’ll work out for New Jersey. Traffic safety should be the only goal, and if that’s the only goal, it should work out well.”
https://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-14/122084671177330.xml&coll=5
>Profile : Dave Pettigrew Emerges As A Fresh Voice Of ‘Change’ In Christian Music
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Everyday Miracles: Dave Pettigrew Emerges As A Fresh Voice Of ‘Change’ In Christian Music
Call him “the poet for the common man’s search for Christianity.” Dave Pettigrew proves worthy of the title through his new sophomore collection of thought-provoking music for life, Every Minute Miracles, (Somebody Else’s Records) releasing this month.
Pettigrew proves also in this, the follow-up to his 2005 debut album, Somebody I’mSupposed To Be, to be a consistent and lyrically wide-reaching breath of fresh air in Christian music as he pursues his ongoing ministry mission through song to bring the “rubber meets the road” realities of everyday life into focus with God.
His latest 10 track collection of new material leaves little wonder why the Rhode Island born singer/songwriter was recently selected among the Top 20 new emerging artists in contemporary Christian music.
The selection came from a panel of Christian music industry professionals that included voting from both the well-respected Indelible Creative Group and noted online artist resource site IndieHeaven.com . Results can be heard in Pettigrew’s inclusion on the recently released compilation CD, Top20Indie2008.
Dave Pettigrew’s unique form of relevant inspirational music with contemporary pop music leanings and catchy hooks is set to the beat of life. Finding his source of inspiration in a world struggling for answers— his specialty is challenging intellect and turning hearts with his thoughtful, thought provoking lyrics to realize the final simplicity of the fact that, as the writer himself frames it best, “God is in the business of doing every minute miracles from the moment we open our eyes each day. My job is just to open my listener’s eyes to that reality.”
A graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, with majors in music business and arranging, Dave’s quest for the creative took him to New York where he ultimately ended up with more opportunities as a singer than his original plans as a sax player. Now based in Ridgewood, New Jersey, he actively tours with his band throughout the northeastern U.S.
As proven by Every Minute Miracles, Dave has found a powerful creative alliance with fellow Berklee grad, Frank Di Minno, his producer and co-writer on the nine original new songs selected for the latest CD—songs that include: Change (Follow,Me), Big Enough, God’s TV, Proof of You, The Best That He Can Be, With My Faith, What Would I Do, Something More, and All I Need Is You. The project closes with Wonderful Maker, the classic Tomlin/Redman song creation.
In addition to being the spotlight of a major review mailing to national press, Every Minute Miracles is available now on iTunes. A single is expected to be serviced to radio in October.
Further artist resources, concert schedules on Dave Pettigrew and retail links for Every Minute Miracles can be found at: https://www.davepettigrew.net/
>Study Finds MMR Vaccine Doesn’t Cause Autism
>By MARY JO LAYTON, STAFF WRITER
A study by Columbia University is the latest to find no link between autism and a common childhood vaccine, news that should reassure concerned parents, experts said Wednesday.
The research, which involved the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluded that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine does not cause the neurological disorder that affects one in every 150 children in the nation.
“We are confident there’s no link between MMR and autism,” said Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, director of the Mailman School of Public Health Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University.
In New Jersey, which has the highest rate of autism in the nation one in every 94 children the study should help parents rule out concerns that the vaccine can cause the disorder, said Dr. Irwin Berkowitz, director of pediatrics at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood.
“There’s harm in not vaccinating and that’s the message that’s got to get across,” he said.
In fact, as of July, the CDC reported 131 cases of measles the highest number since 1996. Ninety-one percent of the cases occurred in people who were not immunized.
The study again rebuts the findings of research completed in 1998 that linked the vaccine to autism after the presence of the measles virus was detected in tissue from children diagnosed with autism and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders.
Experts on Wednesday said their research of 25 children with autism and a control group of 13 with normal neurological development found no link between the presence of the measles virus in tissue and autism.
Those in the study, most of whom were between ages 3 and 5, had GI disorders, which are common in autistic children. Biopsies of bowel tissue were examined for traces of the vaccine. Two biopsy samples with the measles virus were found: one from an autistic child and one from the control group, experts said.
“We found no relationship between the timing of the MMR vaccine and the onset of either GI complaints or autism,” said Dr. Mady Hornig, associate professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health.
More than 20 studies have reported no relationship between MMR vaccine and autism, Lipkin said.
Lipkin stressed that the study did not address any other vaccine or potential causes, including mercury or underlying disorders.
Some parents blame vaccines and a mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, for causing autism or other developmental disabilities. It was once commonly used to prevent bacterial contamination but, since 2001, has been used only in certain flu shots.
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E-mail: [email protected]
>This golf nut is hooked on helping
>Madison man’s nonprofit to hold fundraiser for injured veterans
Friday, September 05, 2008
BY LESLIE KWOH
Star-Ledger Staff
Madison resident Brian Coleman is a self-proclaimed “golf nut.”
The 62-year-old has played at more than 300 golf courses around the world in places like Ireland, Mexico, Spain and Bermuda.
On his trips, he’s collected hundreds of thousands of ball markers, pin flags and playing card sets — from which he has made a small profit selling online.
“Golf nuts are incredible collec tors of junk,” he said.
But what started as a golf collectibles business several years ago has now turned into a nonprofit that supports wounded U.S. troops. Last year, Coleman decided to use his profits to donate golf therapy equipment to Veterans Af fairs hospitals and military medical centers across the country.
On Monday, Coleman will be holding the first Golf Supports Our Troops tournament at the Ridgewood Country Club, 96 W. Midland Ave. in Paramus. The daylong event starts at 11 a.m. and Coleman hopes to raise $25,000 from the $750-per-player event.
“I had all this inventory and I didn’t know what to do with it,” said Coleman, a retired financial printing salesman. “And I thought, ‘Maybe for once in your life, you could do something good.'”
Since he started Golf Supports Our Troops last spring, Coleman has raised about $90,000. On his website at golfsupportsourtroop s.org, he sells a range of collectibles from $7.99 military pins to $2,000 ballmarker collections.
Initially, Coleman donated to other veteran-focused charities. But he wanted to be directly involved in his donations, and he wanted to share his passion for golf.
So last year, he donated a pair of golf swing trainers — a hula hoop-like device that allows users to practice the arc of their swing — to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, Texas. Then, in June, he contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs — and things really took off.
So far, about 20 VA hospitals have agreed to install the Explanar swing trainers, though none of them are in New Jersey, according to Laura Balun, director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service Office in Washington, D.C. Coleman hopes to increase that number to 100 in the next 18 months.
Madison resident Kieron Farrelly, who has signed up for Monday’s tournament, said he felt especially compelled after discovering his 24-year-old nephew, Brian, is scheduled to be deployed with the New Jersey National Guard next month.
“I feel really good about doing it,” said Farrelly, 54.
Coleman says he can’t pinpoint one reason for deciding to support disabled veterans. Perhaps it was because he did not serve in Vietnam after doctors discovered that one of his legs was a fraction of an inch shorter than the other. Perhaps it was the images he saw in the media.
“We’ve lived a very comfortable life, and I’ve never had to serve. I’ve got two homes, belong to two golf clubs, I’ve got more cars than I need,” he said. “I’m small, I can’t give to a million things. But if I concentrate my resources on one thing, maybe I can make some type of impact.”
To register for Monday’s golf event, call Coleman at (201) 672-0600.
Leslie Kwoh may be reached at [email protected] or (973) 539-7910.
>CBS 2 Investigation: Expired Food On Store Shelves
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Giant N.J. Food Chains Caught On Camera With Violations; Garden State A.G. Poised To Lower The Boom
Reporting
Kirstin Cole
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. (CBS) ― A typical basket of 100 grocery items costs nearly 6 percent more than it did in January.
Paying such a premium you’d expect to get the very best, but routinely stores are cited for selling expired goods.
In a hidden camera report, CBS 2 HD investigated who’s minding the stores where you go to shop.
Parents are trying to buy only the best for their baby, trusting it’s fresh and safe.
CBS 2 HD found anything but lining the shelves of this Ridgewood, N.J. King’s supermarket last week as we pulled jar after jar of expired Gerber’s baby food for purchase. One applesauce was 15 months past is expiration date. We notified the store and checked at another King’s store in Midland Park, only to find managers directing a hasty operation to yank more expired baby food.
CBS 2 HD: “You’re pulling a lot?” (store manager)
Store manager: “All that.”
But Kings is not the only culprit. New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram is coming down hard on retailers she says are ripping off customers — with three lawsuits filed. Target, Wal-Mart and Drug Fair are each accused of being a repeat offender, selling expired products or overcharging at the register.
“There’s no question that they know what the law is in the state and that they promised to uphold the law,” said a spokesperson with the state Department of Consumer Affairs.
But Milgram charges they broke the law thousands of times by selling everything from expired baby formula to medicine and overcharging for other items.
CBS 2 HD: “We also did an investigation of our own. We found expired baby food at some New Jersey supermarkets. How would you categorize that?”
A.G. Milgram: “I think it’s unconscionable.”
While not the focus of this investigation, supermarkets are also inspected by the Department of Consumer Affairs. In 2007, Kings Supermarkets, which has 26 New Jersey locations, received a total of 275 violations.
“It’s just unacceptable to our company,” Kings spokesperson Cheryl Good said.
Good said they are now working hard to uphold the law.
“This is certainly a wake-up call and we’re going to take a look at these procedures,” Good said.
Each of the three chains is facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, but that may be a drop in the bucket for these billion dollar corporations. If you find a price discrepancy or buy an expired product, file a complaint to have it investigated.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
>Village Council Considers Portion of Ridge/GW School District as Location for Affordable Housing
>It was revealed during yesterday’s Village Council meeting that Ridgewood officials have identified at least two areas within the Ridge/GW school district as being potentially suited for placement of affordable housing units to meet the Village’s current & expected COAH obligation.
The locations identified are North Walnut Street, between Ridgewood Avenue and Franklin Avenue, and Chestnut Street, between Franklin Avenue and the northern dead end.
It is not known whether enrollment capacity data at either Ridge or GW were reviewed as part of the decision making process.
>Former SEC Head Levitt Urges Greater Muni Disclosure
>Because I know so many of you buy Tax Free Bonds and our “Leafy” Village issues them from time to time …..
Former SEC Head Levitt Urges Greater Muni Disclosure (Update1)
By Jeremy R. Cooke
Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. municipal bond market needs greater Securities and Exchange Commission oversight to address a “pretty outrageous” lack of disclosure, according to Arthur Levitt Jr., a former head of the SEC.
More than half of long-term municipal bonds issued between 1996 and 2005 were delinquent in filing continuing financial disclosure documents for at least one year, based on a study released yesterday by Fort Lee, New Jersey-based DPC Data. The company is one of four repositories for such filings.
“We have a real breakdown in the system of overseeing a vital market for America’s investors,” Levitt, senior adviser to the Carlyle Group, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview today. “There are absolutely no consequences for not filing.”
Current SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has said improving municipal market disclosure is a priority. The so-called Tower Amendment limits the commission’s ability to regulate a market where tens of thousands of U.S. state and local government borrowers have $2.66 trillion in debt outstanding. The 1975 federal law prohibits the SEC and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, created that year, from requiring issuers to file with them before selling bonds.
U.S. Representative Barney Frank also said the House Financial Services Committee that he chairs would hold hearings on disclosure this month.
Introducing Emma
The MSRB is developing a single centralized repository, called Electronic Municipal Market Access, or Emma, to accept regular filings from issuers by early next year.
“The current method for collection and dissemination of continuing disclosure documents depends on issuer submissions to multiple entities, which the SEC has noted is not the best means of meeting the market’s need for a comprehensive database of disclosure documents,” Frank Chin, MSRB chairman, said in an e- mailed statement.
The single system “will improve disclosure performance by issuers by reducing the administrative burden they face with multiple entities,” said Chin, who also directs the public finance group at New York-based Citigroup Inc.
Levitt also called for boosting states’ and municipalities’ disclosure of derivative bets with banks and other financial institutions, often used as part of a financing strategy to protect against interest-rate movement. Derivatives are contracts whose value is derived from tradeable securities, or linked to future changes in lending costs.
`What Can Be Lost’
“Municipalities are using derivatives and not disclosing to investors exactly what can be made or what can be lost from the use of those derivatives,” said Levitt, who led a 2006 investigation that found the city of San Diego failed to disclose a $1.4 billion pension fund shortfall to investors.
“The two obvious fixes have got to be to put the municipal bond market under SEC jurisdiction, taking it away from the prohibitions of the Tower Amendment, and giving greater disclosure of these derivatives,” Levitt said.
Levitt, who was SEC chairman from July 1993 to February 2001, sits on the board of Bloomberg LP, parent company of Bloomberg News.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy R. Cooke in New York at [email protected].
Last Updated: September 3, 2008 15:12 EDT
James J Foytlin
Horwitz & Associates
54 Washington Place
Ridgewood NJ 07450
toll free 1(866)492-3959
phone 1(201)301-2780
cell 1(201)966-7788
>Company Profile: Yummyearth Llc
>
Yummyearth Llc
38 E Ridgewood Ave # 385, Ridgewood, NJ 07450-3808, United States
Phone: (201) 857-8489
Rob Wunder and Sergio Bicas are the two daddies that invented YummyEarth organic lollipops and organic candy drops almost two years ago. As big-time lollipop fans, who met through our college roommate wives, Rob and Sergio wanted to share treats with their children, Jonah and Rose, that have no chemical colors, artificial flavors, corn syrup or other chemicals. YummyEarth now has and astounding 21 delicious flavors that taste so much better than candy you’ve had before because they handcraft their flavors with real fruit extracts. They even use organic black carrots, organic wheat grass juice, and organic pumpkin to achieve their brilliant colors. YummyEarth is gluten-free, nut-free, and has no corn syrup for those with allergies or food sensitivities.
Today YummyEarth is the #1 organic candy company in the US. You can find YummyEarth at Whole Foods, Toys R Us, Linens N Things, Babies R Us, Vitamin Shoppe, Party City, Amazon.com, Marriott hotels and Vail Resorts, Harry and David gift baskets, Smoothie King, health food stores, gourmet stores and supermarkets. Don’t live in the US? YummyEarth is now available in more than 25 other countries around the world.
>August New Home Sales in Ridgewood Jump !
>
According to Al Donohue of Marron Gildea & Donohue the Ridgewood Real estate market showed improvement in 3 key benchmarks in August
.
1. The average sale price of a Ridgewood Home increased by roughly 10% from July to August
2. The number of homes sold in Ridgewood increased from 26 in July to 36 in August.
3. The average number of days it took a home to sell in Ridgewood decreased from a July average of 54 days to an August average of 48 days.
See Al’s blog
https://activerain.com/blogsview/673545/Ridgewood-Home-Sales-August
>So a ‘for profit’ hospital damages non profits? (There’s another story here!)
>
Firm wants to put $80M into Pascack
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Last updated: Sunday August 17, 2008, EDT 10:42 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER
A private equity firm wants to invest $80 million to reopen Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood as a 128-bed community hospital in partnership with Hackensack University Medical Center.
Legacy Hospital Partners Inc. of Plano, Texas, would provide the capital to reopen a full-service hospital by the end of next year, its chief executive said. As a for-profit hospital – known as Hackensack University Medical Center North at Pascack Valley – it would pay real-estate and sales taxes.
The state must still approve the plan.
“We’re not asking the state for any money,” said John Ferguson, Hackensack’s chief executive officer, explaining why he anticipates state support. “We want to open up a facility that the communities up there want to see reopened. We know how to run the business. I see it as a no-brainer.”
Action by the state Health Department must come within seven months, once Hackensack’s application is considered complete. That clock has not yet started running.
The state Health Planning Board will hold a public hearing before recommending approval or denial to the state Health Commissioner, who makes the final decision.
The Westwood hospital, whose 280 beds were more than half-empty in its last years, closed Nov. 21 under the weight of $100 million in debt. Since then, ambulances in northeastern Bergen County have transported patients longer distances to the county’s other hospitals.
“We don’t simply want a hospital, we need a hospital,” said Westwood Mayor John Birkner. He said he will ask the mayors of 21 towns in the Pascack and Northern Valleys, as well as southern Rockland County, to join in endorsing the application.
Nearby hospitals?
If a new hospital opens at Pascack Valley, it will weaken the others in the county, executives from nearby hospitals said.
The closest private hospitals – The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center – each were able to treat the influx of patients when Pascack Valley closed, their executives said. They added staff and opened more beds. As a result, each became financially stronger.
Reopening Pascack Valley now would “weaken the financial stability of the existing not-for-profit hospitals in Bergen County,” said Audrey Meyers, Valley’s president and chief executive. As a for-profit, the Westwood hospital would be accountable to shareholders and not the community, she said.
The proposal would “disrupt and damage the operations of surrounding hospitals, which are already challenged by drastic cutbacks in New Jersey’s charity-care funding and the intensely competitive marketplace,” said Douglas Duchak, Englewood’s president and chief executive.
He called it a “direct contradiction to rational health planning.”
The proposed investment of $80 million in private capital runs counter to recent trends in New Jersey, where hospitals are in worse financial shape than in any other state. Eight have closed in the last 18 months, including Barnert in Paterson and PBI Regional Medical Center in Passaic.
A commission appointed by Governor Corzine to analyze the problem noted earlier this year that the state’s oversupply of hospital beds is “particularly noticeable in the Hackensack, Ridgewood and Paterson areas.” The Bergen-Passaic area, along with Newark and Jersey City, has more financially weak hospitals than anywhere else in the state, it found.
The commission also recommended that hospital board members be vetted to avoid possible conflicts of interest.
The commission was led by Uwe Reinhardt, an internationally known professor of health economics at Princeton University. Reinhardt is on the 14-member board of directors of Legacy Hospital Partners, the company that intends to invest with Hackensack in Pascack Valley.
Reached after a board meeting in Texas, Reinhardt said he saw no conflict in his dual roles.
“I know very little about this,” he said of Legacy’s plans for Westwood. “I have recused myself from that particular discussion.” As chairman of the New Jersey Commission on Rationalizing Health Care Resources, he said, “we never had details on any particular hospitals.”
‘A good opportunity’
Daniel Moen, Legacy’s president and chief executive officer, said the company saw “a good opportunity to work with a quality partner like Hackensack. … We think Bergen County is a good area to operate a hospital.” Pointing to the other hospitals in the region, Moen said, “Except for Pascack, which appears to have been under-managed, everybody around is doing well, if not very well.”
This is the third project for the company after others in Idaho and New Mexico. It was founded in January by former executives of a national for-profit hospital chain, and focuses on acquiring hospitals through joint ventures with non-profit hospital companies, Moen said. Its backing comes from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, among others investors.
The two sides expect the Westwood venture to become profitable in three to five years.
Although Hackensack’s financial stake is much smaller, the structure of the joint venture “gives us a strong element of control,” said Hackensack’s chief financial officer, Robert Glenning. Half of the new hospital’s board would be appointed by each partner, and a majority of each side’s members would be needed to approve any measure. Hackensack would appoint the board chairman and could terminate the chief executive at any time.
Hackensack would be responsible for all medical policies. “The same way we treat patients here, they’ll be treated up there,” said Ferguson.
He acknowledged that the project would increase competition with other hospitals, “but I look at it from a patient perspective,” Ferguson said. “I would not want one car dealership in town. The more competition you have for quality care, you get better prices and better service.”
The new facility would allow Hackensack to ease some of its overcrowding without adding any debt, he said.
Hackensack and Touro University College of Medicine bought the hospital and its 20-acre campus at a bankruptcy auction in March. TouroMed is seeking accreditation to open a medical school at the site in 2010.
The emergency department at Pascack Valley is to reopen as a satellite of Hackensack on Oct. 1, under a separate license already approved by the state.
E-mail: [email protected]
From another blog….14-year old boy, a non-swimmer, drowned at a swimming lake in New Jersey. It’s a terrible tragedy. But this astounded me…
>Monday, July 28, 2008
A 14-year old boy, a non-swimmer, drowned at a swimming lake in New Jersey. It’s a terrible tragedy. But this astounded me: Staff at the pool underwent crisis counseling, said police officer Brian Pullman and Village Manager James Ten Hoeve.
Crisis counseling? For lifeguards? Did they ask for this nonsense, or were they forced to endure it? Must every adversity in one’s life be guided by counselors? Is nobody able to navigate life without “expert“ assistance?
For the record, I was in the middle of a failed rescue at the very same facility 30 years ago. We performed CPR on the body for 15-20 minutes, not knowing how long it had been underwater. Additionally, in my youth I had friends or acquintances die of the following causes: drunk driving, suicide, leukemia, rock climbing accident, and drug overdose. Not once were “crisis counselors” sent in, nor were they required.
I imagine these counselors did more to accomodate the politicians need to “do something” than it helped the lifeguards, who knew a tragic drowning is always an eyeblink away.
Meanwhile, while Ridgewood, NJ was sending in counselors over its third drowning in 30 years, New York lifeguards were dealing with four deaths and three disappearances in two days, and 10 people were struck by lightning in the region. The New York area crisis counselors are going to have their hands full.
posted by Kurt at 10:57 PM
>Reader says :Valley Hospital is strictly a TAKE ALL, and GIVE NONE business
>PJ – After the incident 2 years ago when a Ridgewood Emergency Services operated and Village owned Generator was sent to that Deli in Midland Park, how will the Valley Hospital reimburse the Village for its use of this equipment, in addition to the Communications vehicle, communications equipment, and nearly a dozen paid and volunteer personnel. Although Ridgewood Emergency Services, the RPD, and RFD do a great job in responding to all calls and handling all responses professionally… the Valley Hospital is strictly a TAKE ALL, and GIVE NONE business. Valley Hospital pays $0 in Taxes and Donates $0 to the RPD, RFD, and Emergency Services, or any other Ridgewoon Entity that would benefit its residents, and Village Residents recieve the same bills as non-residents from the hospital and its services. I strongly believe the Valley Hospital should be send a bill for the use of Village equipment and services today. The RFD responds on several calls a month to the Valley Hospital, and receives $0 compensation for the Tax Payer expenses to send them there. Ridgewood Emergency Services spend approximately 50 Man-hours on-site today to assist in the Power Failure – When Valley’s equipment failed after a transformer explosion on Linwood Ave. Valley is spending millions on their expansion, you think they could afford a few hundred thousand to install and maintain proper generators and communications equipment, or at least Donate to Ridgewood to compensate the use of Village equipment, services, and personnel? Somone on the counsil needs to stand up to these bullies!
>PSE&G expects to raise prices about 20 percent this Fall
>July 25, 2008
To residents of Ridgewood:
As you may have heard, PSE&G expects to raise prices about 20 percent this Fall, and may in fact raise prices even beyond that – in two 5 percent increments – in later months.
This is being done in spite of the fact that there is no shortage of natural gas but that rates have been bid up by speculators. The rate increase doesn’t give us any credit for the possibility that prices of natural gas might indeed come down.
There is a public hearing to discuss this matter before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities takes final action on whether or not to approve.
The public hearing is Aug. 18 at 7 pm. It will be held in Hackensack in the Bergen County Administration Building, Room 540, at 1 Bergen County Plaza.
It’s my hope that a group of Ridgewood citizens will be willing to attend this meeting to protest. Or at least contribute to a stack of Go Green emails that I may present to show them your views when I attend this meeting on your behalf.
I learned of this moments ago in reading papers in the weekly packet I get each Friday as a Council member. For the record please note that PSE&G took steps to minimalize the news by minimalizing the type – it’s about one quarter the size of lettering in other documents.
Anyway, I’m passing this on to you for your edification and, hopefully, your help.
Please join me in letting PSE&G know that how we in Ridgewood feel about this. Please pass this on to others whom you know will be concerned.
If it becomes necessary to pass along cost increases, PSE&G shouldn’t be given carte blanche to do that. Such actions should be scrutinized each time since such actions inflict real pain on everybody.
Best,
Annie
