>Letter: John Birkner, Jr. Mayor of Westwood thanks area residents for support at hospital hearing
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011
PASCACK VALLEY COMMUNITY LIFE
Mayor thanks residents for support at hospital hearing
To the Editor:
It has certainly been a long time coming, but the residents of the Pascack and Northern Valleys finally had the opportunity to address the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services Planning Board. The application by Hackensack University Medical Center to open a full service acute care hospital at the site of the former Pascack Valley Hospital is now in the final stages of review. After nearly four years of working to have the hospital reopened, it was great to see that the passion, energy, and resolve of our residents has not diminished one bit, and in fact seems to have grown stronger.
The old saying “actions speak louder than words” could apply no better than to the actions demonstrated by the executive staff from both Valley and Englewood Hospitals, who after accusing the members of the State Department of Health of manipulating the application process, then claimed that they cared about the residents in our community. We expected them to speak out against the opening of our hospital, but we also expected that since they claimed to care about our residents, perhaps they would have stayed at the hearing to listen to our concerns. Instead, after they addressed the panel, their small group got up together and left the building in a display that demonstrated a clear lack of interest in what anyone in attendance has experienced because of the closure of our hospital.