Hudson County's CarePoint Health Will Operate As Nonprofit

JERSEY CITY, NJ —CarePoint Health, which runs three area hospitals, announced Monday that it will begin operating as a community-based, nonprofit organization. Leaders say a transition to nonprofit control will open up a wide array of opportunities to support patients from Hudson County's underserved communities.

In a release, CarePoint Health, which operates Bayonne Medical Center, Christ Hospital in Jersey City and Hoboken Medical Center, said the nonprofit would be led by current CarePoint CEO Dr. Achintya Moulick and a new board of community stakeholders. A mission statement will be announced at a later date.

CarePoint founders Vivek Garipalli and James Lawler will pledge their majority interest in CarePoint Health hospitals and Christ Hospital land, according to the release.

"The formation of a new nonprofit will allow the three-hospital system to continue its trajectory of bringing in multiple tertiary level clinical services with nationally known clinical organizations while giving these precious assets back to the community. This is a significant milestone that will secure the provision of accessible healthcare in Hudson County," Moulick said.

Moulick added: "The pandemic has shown community hospitals to be the cornerstones of healthcare delivery in Northern New Jersey, and the transition to a nonprofit is the best way to ensure we remain so for future generations."

CarePoint Health currently employs 3,000 people in Hudson County and provides acute care to a majority of the county's population. CarePoint has treated more than 22,000 COVID-19 patients during the pandemic, the hospital system said.

According to CarePoint, the system continues to care for a high percentage of uninsured and Medicaid patients, a group that makes up nearly 60-percent of the patient mix at Christ Hospital and Hoboken University Medical Center.

But urban hospitals continue to find themselves battling for survival. According to statistics, between 1970 and 2010, 46 percent of urban hospitals in major US cities were closed, many of them independent community hospitals, like CarePoint Health's hospitals, that cared for underserved populations.

CarePoint's founders said the move to nonprofit helps secure the healthcare system's future and opens up opportunities to expand its resources.

"Safety net hospitals have a precarious existence, placing incredible stress on organizations that are dedicated to serving our most vulnerable citizens," Lawler said. "Having spent well over 40 years working to sustain safety net hospitals in New York and New Jersey, I've seen firsthand how critical this care is for our underserved populations and how challenging it is for colleagues to maintain, often against all odds. It has always been our intention to move from stabilizing the hospitals, to securing their future, and today is the culmination of that work."

Garipalli said CarePoint is ready to begin its next chapter under the guidance of Moulick and a new nonprofit board.

"Dr. Moulick and CarePoint's leadership team have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to preserving community healthcare in Hudson County, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Garipalli said.

Garipalli added: "Following 13 years of hard work transforming the hospitals, our biggest priority is preserving CarePoint's future so that the hospitals remain a vital resource for families in Hudson County for many years to come."

According to CarePoint, the transition to nonprofit stewardship will open up new opportunities for staff, patients and the community at-large. CarePoint's objectives going forward, include: growing oncology services, providing comprehensive cardiac care, establishing a new interventional stroke program in Hudson County and further developing subspecialized surgical services, the organization's leaders said.