April 7, 2008
Attorney General Anne Milgram
New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety
Division of Law
Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex
P.O. Box 106
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0106
Re: Proposed Closing of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center by Solaris Health
System
Dear General Milgram:
New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center has become aware of the proposed closing of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center (“Muhlenberg”), a 130-year old nonprofit, acute-care facility. Starting in late February, several newspapers announced the intent of Solaris Health System, the owner of Muhlenberg, to file on March 1, 2008, a Certificate of Need application with the state Department of Health and Senior Services to seek closure of the hospital. E.g., Mariam Jukaku and Angela Stewart, “Flood of red ink spells the end of Muhlenberg Medical Center,” The Star-Ledger, February 2008. Because the CN application has not been deemed complete and is not yet public, we do not know, at this time, whether Solaris intends to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of the hospital in whole or in part or intends to continue to provide non-acute care services at the facility.
Accordingly, we are requesting the Attorney General take all steps necessary to ensure that the value of all endowment funds, restricted funds and foundations associated with Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center (including Muhlenberg Foundation, Inc.) are adequately protected and used for the purposes for which they are irrevocably dedicated.
Sincerely yours,
Renée Steinhagen
Cc: Jay Ganzman, DAG
Bennet Zarofsky, Esq.
How do you subvert a nonprofit corporation? Infiltrate the board, deny or even change the mission. Intentionally neglect maintenance of any property to justify demolition and make way for the developers. Muhlenberg Hospital's closing taught us that the most heavily endowed nonprofits, with control of prime real estate, are most vulnerable to special interests taking over control of the board.
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