Valley Hospital’s numbers challenged
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
BY MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITER
The Record
After years of waging an expensive campaign and filing multiple lawsuits to block the opening of a Westwood hospital — claiming that there are already too many beds in Bergen County — The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood is pressing its case for an expanded facility that would include more than 450 beds.
The hospital has now been forced to defend its position, after questions from Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn about why Valley’s proposed bed count remains the same — as it has for six years — even though a 128-bed hospital is opening in June in Westwood.
Valley’s argument against the Westwood hospital — declines in population growth and admissions, 300 empty beds every night in Bergen County — fueled a regional health care battle that played out in court and behind the scenes in Trenton with high-powered lobbyists, sophisticated public relations campaigns and millions in market share at stake.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/205513631_Hospital_s_numbers_challenged.html
Valley Hopsital is lying and those who go along with Valley’s proposal “as is” have motives unrelated to what is best for Ridgewood. A warning to Mayor Aronsohn: We won’t forget what you do with Valley Hospital when you inevitably decide to run for higher office. Force Valley Hopsital to accept the absolute minimum necessary to keep Valley Hospital functioning as a top quality facility, and make it a condition of any agreement that no future plans for expansion will be considered.
#1 I agree with most of your post but one thing that bugs me is : with voter turnout so low will the general public be able to vote out a politican who sides with valley.
I find it interesting that Valley is now refusing to answer questions about its business model when understanding Valley’s business model is critical to the Planning Board’s ability to render an informed decision on the Master Plan.
If Valley is only adding 3 beds, then how exactly do they plan to recoup their $750 million investment? They can’t publicly say that they’ll increase outpatient services since resulting increase in traffic would overwhelm municipal infrastructure. It would be difficult even for Valley to find a traffic expert to testify that there would be no negative impact with this strategy.
Is the $750 million investment necessary to keep pace with Hackensack which has already won the battle over Pascack and has a 5 year head start in the modernization race? What if Valley’s 2012 assertion that Bergen County can’t support another hospital was right? $750 million starts to look like a huge gamble and the Planning Board should absolutely understand the risks associated with it.
It seems (again) like Valley is hiding something. Good for the Mayor for asking tough questions – let’s just hope he follows through and is not just grandstanding.
Ask whatever you want. Its getting built.
#4 Thank you Mikka.
More Valley double talk, it should be clear to everyone that Valley spins, distorts and downright lies instead of being forthright and consistent. At least this Mayor is pointing out the inconsistencies unlike the previous circus act of our ‘representatives’. Actions still speak louder than words. If the Valley Board and its” leadership” had been pragmatic, responsible, and responsive from the start of this charade then this community would have been more receptive and a compromise would have been found. Valley instead reminds all that they are just a profit driven business entity trying to constantly bully their way with the help of some self interested power brokers. My vote will be for what is best for the Village of Ridgewood and not what is best for Valley. Modernize wisely yes, expand outside reason no.
Agree with #6 above. Very well said, and my family is here almost as long as Valley has existed.
Let’s hope that the Mayor votes in a manner consistent with his campaign promises and his tough questions. Otherwise he’s just posturing.
#5 idk who you are referring to. It will get built in some way shape or form. It wont be what is proposed 100%, but there there will be something done. Fat chance of you and the rest of the folks on styln’ stopping it.
Valley wants that north building as is. They have not considered reducing it in size by one inch. I don’t think they will agree todownsizing it at all. If the PB has the nerve to suggest a smaller building Valley will say “I’ll see you in court”.
When they go bankrupt we will have a national chain running the place.
They won’t go bankrupt. Its a great world class institution and I am proud to have it in the Village. As a 50 year resident, I can tell you Valley is the main reason many older and retired folks live here. We need good health care. If we move out, there is no question that a young family with many children will buy our home and multiply that by a large number. You will have to build/expand the schools. That is a given. On my block alone, there are about a dozen homes. Of those, there are 3 that have children in the Ridgewood schools. so if 9 homeowners bailed out, you would have 18-27 additional kids in the schools. So before you keep blasting Valley think of the consquences.
They probably would not “go bankrupt” even if they remodeled instead of expanded to the absurd size they say they need. And as for “world class,” you may want to think along the lines of The Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, etc. before you make statements like that. Valley in that league, hardly.
And as an older resident, no offense, but Valley’s certainly not the reason I’m living here. The town is safe, convenient to a lot of things(including other hospitals), nice downtown, etc.,and as long as you want to live in Bergen County it’s as good a place as any. But the truth is, if Valley gets it’s way, most of those things will be compromised to a great degree in both the short and long run.
By the way, I really don’t know of many seniors who enjoy seeing their taxes go up, which this project will inevitably contribute to. I guess you are one of the few.
#12 – Your logic is preposterous. Older residents will not move out if Valley does not expand – they’ll move out because their taxes are astronomically high. You and other Valley apologists continue to muddy the waters on this expansion – the school issue is totally separate and will not be impacted by anything Valley does or doesn’t do. Valley should modernize within its existing footprint. Period. They located themselves in a residential neighborhood and their strategy of blowing the neighborhood up to suit their own purposes is deplorable.