Reader says The community is tired of Valley’s bullying, the wasting of our taxes and time .
By this action, Valley has proven to me and to residents of this village that it is nothing more than a self interested business entity without any true integrity or competent leadership. This attempt will fail because the associated issues don’t support such a audacious over development. The community as a whole is now aware and tired of their bullying, the wasting of our taxes and time .It has become clear to many in all sections that fears of them trying to turn this town into Valleywood is coming true. The Board of Valley should be embarrassed by their lack of proper management planning,. their double talking and miscue on PV and their disgraceful approach and tactics agaisnt a host that has subsidized them for ages. Valley has lost its way and much of the goodwill that it once had. I personally will disassociate myself with the institution.
NJ court says hospitals can keep internal error reviews private
By Anne Zieger | October 1, 2014
Dive Brief:
A New Jersey Supreme Court ruling has concluded that hospitals’ internal review reports written after adverse events occur should remain private. The ruling relies on the 2004 Patient Safety Act, which protects healthcare worker confidentiality in an effort to let them be more candid when errors are made. The ruling allows Valley Hospital of Ridgewood, NJ to keep a memo to itself that was written after events that led to allegations in a medical malpractice case.
Dive Insight:
According to the court, there is abundant reason to protect these privacy privileges. In its ruling, it noted that the legislators who drafted the Patient Safety Act had created an “absolute privilege,” bearing in mind that “healthcare professionals and other provider staff are more likely to effectively assess adverse events in a confidential setting, in which an employee need not fear recrimination for disclosing his or her own medical error, or that of a colleague.”
SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2014, 12:31 AM BY JODI WEINBERGER STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Pools of golden honey formed in a tray, flowing down in a thin, glistening stream from a whirring centrifugal extractor, where inside the intricate work of thousands of bees was being harvested from their combs.
Roll your eyes at the wordplay if you want, but the employees at Valley Hospital were buzzing with excitement watching the demonstration on Sept. 18 of how honey is collected from the hospital’s rooftop hives.
Or maybe they were just feeling the sugar rush of having too many syrupy samples of the honey-laden foods made from the hospital’s sweet bounty: the deep purple hibiscus honey mint water, the creamy goat cheese balsamic honey dip, and the smooth yogurt honey cinnamon spread.
The employees gasped when beekeepers Joseph Lelinho and Eric Hanan, co-founders of Bee Bold Apiaries, unveiled an observation hive – a see-through colony of 30,000 wriggling insects contained by a wood frame – and inched closer slowly, nervous the bees might suddenly escape.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014, 11:22 AM BY LAURA HERZOG STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
In the frenzied halls of The Valley Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED), Janice Hogrefe might not seem to fit in, at first.
After all, her job is more typically associated with angels and rolling white clouds than the ED’s rushing white coats, anxiety-ridden faces, and beeping machinery. Hogrefe is a therapeutic harpist who strums a custom-made miniature harp through Valley’s hallways.
“It took a bit of getting used to, but now it’s part of the culture,” said ED Manager Chris Robertson, who was being serenaded by the harp during a recent workday. “You can have a crazy day in the ED and you hear the harp, and it’s a little bit soothing.”
The harpists are provided by Bedside Harp, a Pennsylvania-based business that Valley has worked with for 10 years.
Since 2004, harpists like Hogrefe (who jokes that her last name rhymes with “no grief”) have strolled the halls and different departments of The Valley Hospital at staggered times, soothing doctors and families as much as patients.
Bedside Harp works in other hospitals, too, including in Philadelphia, Hamilton, Rahway and Paterson. A contract costs about $30,000 a year, according to Bedside Harp founder Edie Elkan.
Four professionals play at Valley, including Elkan herself, plus Bedside Harp student-interns, like Hogrefe, a mastery level harpist.
By the accounts of Valley’s staff and patients, Bedside Harp has made a big difference at Valley, albeit one that can be hard to explain to someone who has never experienced live harp music before.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/calming-harps-serenade-at-valley-1.1094193#sthash.eTDSuiXI.dpuf
Boy, 4, makes miraculous recovery at New York hospital after complications from E. Coli
The LaRose family might never know what infected their son, Jake, with the condition that nearly killed him. In an exclusive to the Daily News, Jake’s mom Kimberly discusses her family’s terrifying ordeal.
BY Meredith Engel
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 4:56 PM
Jacob LaRose almost didn’t make it to pre-K.
The little boy, 4, was sidelined for much of the summer after contracting a rare complication from E. Coli.
E. Coli, a bacterium, is naturally present in our large intestines, according to Dr. Bruce Greenwald, one of Jake’s doctors and the chief of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Komansky Center for Children’s Health at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
But Jake must have eaten something that introduced a harmful strain of the bug, E. Coli O157:H7, into his body. A common source is undercooked hamburger meat, Greenwald said. Symptoms caused by this alternative strain of E. Coli include fever and bloody diarrhea.
And to make matters much worse, Jake developed a scary complication, hemolytic uremic syndrome, that nearly killed him.
HUS happens when E. Coli O157:H7 enters the digestive tract and releases toxins, which then get into the bloodstream and destroy red blood cells. Affected patients can go on to develop anemia, low platelets and kidney complications. It affects about 1 to 3 out of every 100,000 patients.
Jake’s mother, Kimberly LaRose, is still unsure just how her son, as well as 2-year-old daughter Hayden, came into contact with the bug. Both Hayden and Jake fell ill with diarrhea in March, but when their pediatrician noted how sick Jake looked, the family took him straight to the ER.
They didn’t leave until Memorial Day weekend.
Jake initially was treated at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey, near his home in Clifton. Three days after entering the hospital, he was transferred to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center because doctors realized he not only had E. Coli, but HUS, which caused his kidneys to fail. Jake was put on continuous dialysis.
New Jersey Children’s Museum in Paramus to close its doors
August 22, 2014 Last updated: Friday, August 22, 2014, 10:26 AM
By Jodi Weinberger
Staff Writer
The New Jersey Children’s Museum will close on Sept. 1.
Tears were spilled at the New Jersey Children’s Museum on a recent summer day. Not from a fight over sharing toys, or a youngster protesting the trip home, but from the parents and grandparents who brought them there.
After 23 years, the Paramus play space will permanently close on Sept. 1.
“You’re going to make me cry,” said Lisa Grassi, just moments before her eyes turned watery as she watched her grandson, Cody, operate a stationary backhoe on what would be their last “Grandma Day” at the museum.
The Dumont resident said she had looked forward to bringing Cody’s 1-year-old brother when he was old enough on his next birthday.
“If it’s raining or too hot … where are we going to bring them?” Grassi wondered. “And it’s a chance for him to play with other kids.”
Anne and Elliot Sumers, the museum’s founders, shared the news of the closing with their 22-member staff last week and then posted an announcement on their website and other social media where fans of the space could commiserate.
“It’s just the saddest thing in the world,” said Anne Sumers on a phone call Aug. 19.
Ridgewood-based Valley Health Systems, which purchased the building including the 15,000-square-foot museum at 599 Valley Health Plaza, offered the Sumers the option to terminate their lease “a couple weeks ago,” said Elliot Sumers, when it otherwise would have expired in October 2016.
“We couldn’t continue to operate the museum under the current circumstances,” Elliot Sumers said, adding that it would have needed “considerable improvements” to the bathrooms and other areas.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/children-s-museum-in-paramus-to-close-its-doors-1.1072133#sthash.v8PAp7lE.dpu
PHOTO COURTESTY OF VALLEY HOSPITAL Ridgewood High School (RHS) graduate Hayley Clark was recently hired as a labor and delivery nurse at Valley Hospital.
Ridgewood High School program points alumna toward career in healthcare
AUGUST 20, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014, 5:05 PM BY LAURA HERZOG STAFF WRITER
Valley Hospital employees can’t help swelling with pride as they welcome their latest labor and delivery nurse, Hayley Clark.
The 2009 Ridgewood High School (RHS) graduate is Valley’s first employee to come from RHS’ Ridgewood Academy of Health Professions (RAHP).
The Valley-RHS partnership, which began in 2005, has offered many students the opportunity to learn about the varied health-related professions.
The program begins sophomore year, so Clark was a member of the second RAHP class.
“It was really exciting to hear back from Valley, because it was where I grew up,” Clark said during a recent interview. “It has such a community feel, right when you walk into the hospital.”
North Jersey hospitals vigilant after Ebola advisory
AUGUST 1, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 2014, 1:21 AM BY COLLEEN DISKIN STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
The U.S. government warned Americans on Thursday not to travel to West African nations in the grip of an Ebola outbreak, while local hospitals and airports were also advised to be on the alert for travelers showing signs of the deadly virus.
But health officials, while stressing the need for providers to exercise vigilance as always, said there’s little reason to believe an Ebola case would walk through the doors of any New Jersey hospitals.
“It’s very low risk right now for the United States,” said Dr. Gary Munk, director of clinical virology at Hackensack University Medical Center, who said medical institutions are nonetheless engaging in a campaign of “information and awareness.”
The state Department of Health this week issued an advisory reminding hospitals and health care providers of the symptoms to watch for and steps to take with a patient who reports having traveled within the last three weeks to Guinea, Sierra Leone or Liberia.
“We have carefully reviewed the health advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and have alerted our entire emergency service team regarding the signs and symptoms,” said Stacie Newton, spokeswoman for University Hospital in Newark. “They are fully prepared to respond to any patients who come to University Hospital and may have symptoms of the disease.”
The CDC, which routinely has officers stationed at international terminals, like the ones at Newark Liberty and John F. Kennedy airports, have been posting updated travel alerts since the disease, which has now killed more than 700 people in the worst recorded outbreak in history, first appeared in March. When outbreaks like this occur in other countries, the CDC works with international organizations to identify sick travelers and, if necessary, restrict them from continuing on their journeys.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/local-hospitals-vigilant-after-ebola-advisory-1.1060872#sthash.bnw5V1Z0.dpuf
Reader says Valley should contribute PILOT ,with CLEAR understanding there is no relationship between a PILOT and Valley’s renewal.
They have nonprofit status in the tax code and pay no property taxes on their Linwood campus. Despite that, they spend millions on advertising billboards, glossy ads in high-end magazines, etc. Their CEO makes almost $3 million a year. And yet they don’t make any volunteer payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the Village of Ridgewood where they are based. They had over $102 million in surplus in 2012, but didn’t volunteer a PILOT to the Village to help cover the cost of snow removal, and repaving & maintenance of the roads around their buildings, or for police & fire services, etc, which apparently are quite extensive, i.e. every time a fire alarm gets pulled in the hospital, the RWFD has to reset it. They also have to understand that there is NO quid pro quo for a PILOT payment and their expansionary dreams. I’m not sure they understand that clearly, but they should understand it, and volunteer 10% of their annual surplus to Ridgewood, with no expectation of anything but a thanks for the service they receive from the municipality. The Village Manager and Council should propose this to the Valley with the CLEAR understanding there is no relationship between a PILOT and Valley’s renewal.
Reader looks to re-define Valleys’ Non Profit Status
As I have mentioned before, perhaps its time to legislate the definition of a ‘non-profit’ with respect to their avoidance of municipal property taxes in NJ (no matter what the IRS recognizes) 1. If the CEO compensation is higher than XXX per year. 2. If the ‘profit’ is xxx per year. 3. If the physicians using the facility earn more than xxx per year. 4. And most importantly… if there is a deficiency in the amount covered by insurance, will the ‘non profit’ NOT require the patient to make up the difference…the TRUE definition of a non-profit. (rather than make the patient responsible…or worse…send the bill to a collection agency)
“In the future, their business approach must take into consideration what is best for Ridgewood as well as their bottom line”
JUNE 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014, 12:31 AM Print
The future for village, Valley Linda McNamara
To the Editor:
A big thank you for your Valley coverage these many months. Also kudos to the Planning Board for the countless hours dedicated to making an informed decision and to our mayor for his thoughtful questions and time devoted to the process.
To those who feel the decision was “not in my back yard” (NIMBY) based and the opposition was largely made up of citizens with a narrow perspective, I would like to state a different point of view. Valley Hospital chose a residential area to build their facility. Had they been looking forward, they might have imagined a desire for large scale growth. The site chosen was never conducive to a massive expansion and it took the time, energy and money of many residents spearheaded by the CRR to inform the rest of us on the devastating effects the proposed plan would have on the village.
The Master Plan was developed to protect us from unreasonable development. This decision does not stop Valley from modernizing and growth, it just can’t do it all on 15 acres in the middle of a residential community.
In my opinion, Valley does not have an expansion problem. It has a management problem.”
JUNE 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014, 12:31 AM Print
Valley needs a new mission statement Richie Herink
To the Editor:
Hopefully the rejection by the Planning Board of Valley’s current expansion plan zoning change request brings to an end the war for patients between Valley and Hackensack not-for-profit hospitals.
As a non-profit hospital, Valley uses the language of business to rationalize the need for a zoning law revision. For example: Valley needs to stay competitive, or Valley needs to keep up or it will go under, and if you don’t progress in this business you will die.
Does anyone doubt that Hackensack would buy Valley in a minute, even with Valley’s zoning restrictions and if Valley were about to “go under”?
In my opinion, Valley does not have an expansion problem. It has a management problem.
Valley supporters continue to attack this blog and the the “mean spirited anonymous posters ” for their utter failure to aggrandize them selfs with an over sized monstrosity .
The Ridgewood Planning Board summed it up best ,“The impacts from this amendment are detrimental to the community,” end of story.
We are told the failure of this plan had nothing to do with the fact that it was ill advised, ill planned, and poorly executed .
And that Valley and its supporters behaved behaved like a bunch of spoiled 2 year old brats with their ,gimme gimme gimme attitude .
Valley in it unlimited arrogance even when as far as to demand the Village comply with their business plan. Apparently that included destroying the character of the Village.
Valley supporters even went as far as to purchase anonymous IP’s from hacker and spammer sites so as to attack residents on this blog I remind you of all the “thats what happens when you buy cheap houses near a hospital” posts .
And while we would love to take al the credit , for blocking the ill suited expansion , groups like CRR did most of the heavy lifting .
The fact that a $100 million dollar hospital could not get this done says far more about management and strategy than anonymous posts .
Unlike the sports people who love send derogatory emails to peoples employers or the schools system that picks on your kids if you speak out of line , the Ridgewood blog has not engaged in any of this “COWARDLY” behavior.
Posters can remain anonymous to protect them selves from unscrupulous bullies , like the RBSA , BOE and Valley Hospital .
Reader says Valley’s management has no one to blame but themselves
Valley’s management has no one to blame but themselves and their Board should start reflecting on the blatant errors made by its management in forward planning .They knew the zone, they knew the burdens that further expansion would bring, they knew of past decisions rendered yet they still tried to cram an overexpansion down this town’s throat with little regard to the host community. They had a golden opportunity to appease , serve and corner two rich areas by buying Pascack Valley for a song.. Instead they tried to shut it down . Embarrassing arrogance and incompetence and some should be held accountable for their lack of foresight. Time for some fresh thinkers at that institution that understand the need to explore other options.
Readers not very forgiving of BOE lack of Action in at lest voicing skepticism and Protecting Students of BF and Travell .
So sad that The Record (in an article posted to its website today) is trying to make it seem like Sheila Brogan (the Ridgewood Board of Education President) is happy about the Planning Board decision. She actively helped Valley Hospital by claiming that the massive 6-10 year construction proposed by Valley would have no impact on the education of Ridgewood students at the B.F. Middle School right next door to Valley. We won’t forget, Sheila.
Her testimony was disappointing and was not in line with the BOEs fiduciary duty to protect the students. Forget about the construction period, the final product of a 94 foot tall building and a building moved over next to BF on top of the current parking lot would impact the students forever. And the track and field participants.
Please explain how her saying “construction would have no impact on the education of kids at B.F and Travell” shows that she means well? If you’re saying she “meant” to help Valley, then I understand. But having BF and Travell kids go thru 6 years of construction doesn’t indicate that she means well. Remember this at election time ,br><br?>
