>State Health Department looks to revisit the re-opening of Pascack Valley Hospital
the Staff of the Riidgewood Blog
The state Health Department has given Hackensack University Medical Center an official “do-over” on its bid to reopen the former Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood on Friday. A notice inviting applications by June 1 was posted by the state Health Department for a new general hospital “to serve Bergen County.”
No guarantees were given by State Health Commissioner Poonam Alaigh that a new hospital would in fact be approved, when she signed the notice on Friday. The disclaimer , “The Department reserves the right to disapprove all applications … [if] they have not satisfactorily demonstrated need,” was clearly embedded in the notice.
Poonam also left plenty of room for other hospitals such as The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, which oppose Hackensack’s plans to make their views known.
The reopening of the property formerly know as Pascack Valley has been a serious point of contention between several local hospitals and several towns in Bergen county . The competition between Valley Hospital and Hackensack University Medical Center has been intense .
