Plainfield feeling the pain of Muhlenberg Hospital

By Mark DiIonno

October 17, 2009, 7:00AM

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerNimrod Webb, Jr., owns Netherwood Auto Repair Center in Plainfield. His business has been affected from the shutting down of parts of Muhlenberg Hospital.

The Netherwood Auto Repair Shop is about a mile from what’s left of Muhlenberg Hospital, but owner Nimrod Webb says business is way off since the hospital closed a year ago.

"This is the worst thing that’s happened since we’ve been in business," he said.

The ‘we’ is Webb and his late father, who started the business in 1962, five years before riots did irreparable damage to Plainfield’s reputation, economy and housing market.

"That was bad, but this downturn has been absolutely drastic," he said.

On Park Avenue near the South Plainfield border, Cheryl Mazellan’s Imperial Deli has also taken a big hit.

"We did a lot of business there. All the lunches and catered platters they ordered are gone," Mazellan said.

The Imperial is in a strip mall with a pizza place and a Chinese restaurant, and there is plenty of parking at lunch. Along Park, "For Sale" and "For Rent" signs are posted in front of medical arts buildings and doctors’ offices. A pharmacy closed, and another slashed hours.

In a bad economy, no town can afford to lose 1,100 jobs. In any economy, Plainfield can afford it less. The town has struggled in the four decades since the riots, with downtown declines marked by changing demographics and competition from malls. Through it all, Muhlenberg was a source of pride. Many "Welcome to Plainfield" signs are subtitled "Home of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center."

The original historic edifice has the name carved in concrete and for Corinth pillars, and for 132 years, the hospital was a stanchion of the community, growing with the times. There were new centers for wounds, bariatric treatment and dialysis, and a 355-bed full service hospital with an operating room almost round the clock.

When Muhlenberg was closed by owner Solaris Health Systems because the company said it was unprofitable, it became another statistic in state hospital closures. About 25 have closed in New Jersey since 1990, most are in urban areas; Irvington General, St. James and Columbus in Newark, Orange Medical, Barnert in Paterson, Greenville in Jersey City, Union Hospital, to name a few.

Unlike those hospitals, Muhlenberg has no nearby medical facilities. JFK in Edison, also owned by Solaris, is closest at five miles away.

Amanda Brown/The Star-Ledger (left to right) Deborah Dowe, Karen Gielen Jim Colvin and Hope Thompson are some of the community members and former Muhlenberg Hospital staff who are upset about the closing of the hospital in Plainfield. They stand in front of one of the older sections of the hospital.

Healthcare is now the country’s most public debate. As a New Jersey election issue, it runs third behind property taxes and the economy. As a Plainfield issue, Muhlenberg is about all three. The closing effects care, business, and real estate value, the barometer of property taxes.

"I know of people who want to move out of town or are reluctant to move into town, because we no longer have a hospital," said James Colvin, the pastor of Plainfield’s United Church of Christ. "It has definitely impacted property values, and depressed many of our residents. They feel abandoned."

In Star-Ledger interviews, the three major candidates talked about recent hospital closings.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine said the state had a glut of hospital beds, and that glut is almost gone. He said certain "safety net" hospitals for low-income and uninsured people "need to be protected" and expansion of federally qualified health care centers would help fill the void.

Republican Chris Christie said "the state has a role in reforming the way we operate our health care system." He said a cooperative system of hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities would make spending more efficient.

Independent Chris Daggett said "the broad need of the community has to be taken into account," and the state should ensure health services are available when a city hospital closes. Daggett used Muhlenberg’s "satellite emergency department’’ as an example of a vulnerable community remaining served.

But emergent care only heals part of the wounds left by a hospital closing.

"This hospital was not only an economic engine, but it was also a backbone of our civic service community, and serviced the most vulnerable people we have in this country," said Deborah Dowe, who has led a coalition that continues to challenge the closing. "Every kind of group home was put in Plainfield. We have homes for addicts, alcoholics, the developmentally disabled and mentally challenged. Then they took away the hospital that serves their needs."

Dowe, Karen Gielen, a former Muhlenberg nurse, and Hope Thomas, are running as independent freeholder candidates in Union on a "Save Muhlenberg" platform. The three women and Colvin complain the federally-funded clinic for poor Plainfield residents is across town, near Green Brook and Dunellen, and little mass transit goes that way. Hospitals that are absorbing Plainfield’s births, surgeries and other patient care are also far removed from mass transit.

"Solaris wants to send everybody to JFK, but there’s no bus lines there," Dowe said. "Now, if you’re poor and don’t have a car, you have to take two or three buses to go visit a sick relative or a newborn baby in Elizabeth, or Edison."

For the sick, the only way to get to a hospital is by ambulance, medical transport or cab. The first two are very expensive for the uninsured. The last may be the lone economic upside to the Muhlenberg saga. Since the hospital closed, there are three new cab companies in town.