>Let’s think about the real issue here.
This is a business plan. A good old turf war. The two players are Valley and Hackensack. Bottom line is Hackensack has been pulling top physicians in for years, Pascack is kaput and Valley is trying to play catch up. It almost seems that Valley wants to grow up to be a “University Medical Center” and not the “community” hospital that it states it wants to be. The previous blogger said it perfectly, “whose community are they trying to serve?”
I have read a number of blog entries from various web sites and some of you have nailed the aftermath issues dead on. One being that with all the new additions and clinics being proposed based on the zoning changes what’s or who’s to stop the zoning board approval for future home offices all around the hospital.
I would have had no idea what this blogger was referencing but coincidentally a week before I read this, I had taken the bus back from Manhattan. This particular route took a circuitous route through Hackensack and I did notice something peculiar. Clinics and Dr offices lined up all of the streets for countless blocks. At the time I remember thinking wow I can’t believe all of these homes were converted like this. Now I get it.
This not about a $750,000,000 dollar expansion for an increase of 3 beds. Though I could be wrong but I do have three beds for sale and I will be willing to let them go for a mere $249,999,999 a piece. I will even throw in two more beds and a complete home but come quickly because at this rate they’ll sell pretty fast.
Bottom line is, if my family or I get a broken arm or an earache I’ll go to Valley. Anything more serious than that I’m heading to Manhattan’s finest.
As for the other issues rising out of the main one ie taxes, community giving, etc… I couldn’t agree more. Where is Valley???
>Bottom Line will always be $. Can the people who represent us must stop this as with the last expansion. They wanted the land and did not get it; now they want the sidewalks and streets… what is the difference. remember people there are children also at stake here. That young girl who got hit by a car from a hospital employee was real…. the old women who destroyed that car and almost a house on van dien (going for a test at the hospital) was real. we should not forget the children. The Presidents of Valley come and go ($), the village should stay the same.
>You are partially right. The economic model of a mid-size hospital is a huge challenge. Valley knows it can’t be profitable (that may technically be break-even) if it remains a community hospital. Insurance companies have seen to that through ridiculous and unfair reimbursement rates and coverage allowances. So it must develop high-powered specialties that can demonstrate areas of expertise and serve as profit centers for non-patient care operations like research and teaching. These are areas where Valley trails Hackensack and the NY hospitals by a large margin. The truth is that most of the big name docs have privileges at Valley, Hackensack, and the big teaching hospitals in the City. They are probably centered at one, but they have offices where they see patients in or near all three. Valley needs to continue to be “medically” attractive to lure doctors, but also needs a huge number of support personnel, some medical, some not. Think about improving work conditions (e.g. making conditions competitive versus other potential employers) for everyone from nurses to dietiticians to MIS folks. All command top dollars and top work experiences, which is what Valley needs to think about in order to compete. There’s a lot more to say here but I need to get back to work.
>A Valley insider had this to say:
Birthing babies is the MOST profitable aspect of Valley Hospital. They are losing potential mommies to hospitals with more SINGLE rooms. Now, every new mother to be wants a single room and she is willing to pay the extra $s for it. Valley wants to be able to provide that single room to every pregnant patient that wants one. Ka ching!
For this, they need to set aside an entire new wing, also moving diagnostic and pediatrics with it.
It is definitely about competition, but it’s competition over getting the profitable patients not in getting the most high tech equipment and personnel to handle the more expensive illnesses. Manhattan, after all, is not that far away.
Is it possible for valley to get what it wants without changing the building code?
We don’t really know, do we? They have not been made to provide other scenarios as yet (forget the DVD, that’s their opening gambit). They have not been made to provide an EIS (Environment Impact Statement). That should be necessary given that they are requesting a CHANGE in the town’s code. The EIS will provide much needed independent information to residents and planning members about noise, pollution, traffic, growth, pedestrian safety, effectiveness of proposed abatements, etc.
“Not-for-profit” and “competition” are an ungainly fit. So should the residents nearby (and the Village’s character) bear the brunt of this problem that Valley faces?
The planning board needs to ask the right questions. These will not be the questions Valley wants to be asked.
Let’s hope they are up to the task.
>i wish they knock down that school.all it is filled up with is a bunch of yuppys and nerds.and that place is a shit hole.make the hospital biger.is better thats what i think.and one a nother note i think they can go over across the street they would not care all it is ,is a bone yard.I say yes to valley all the way.or do you like to go to hackensack.good place but look at that town what a shit hole of a town.I say do it get it done .
>Every time Hackensack Hospital proposes an “expansion” Valley does the same. Why?