Solaris Application to Close Muhlenberg - NJ Health Dept. Staff Analysis

Mi - Certificate of Need Application Staff Analysis

Breaking News - President Obama's Ancestors and Muhlenberg Hospital

MI - Muhlenberg Hospital and the Obama Connection

Pride Must Stem From Truth

It is time to eliminate what is being called Black History Month and evolve to a new standard of what is called American History that celebrates the truly diverse people who made this nation possible.

     Who blasted through the mountains for the railroads?

     Who dug the tunnels beneath the Hudson River?

     Who could tolerate the heights that made our skyscrapers and bridges possible?

Until everyone knows who invented and implemented this society, we'll all be stuck in neo-primitive lies that empower no one.

Attorney Notification of Vulnerable Muhlenberg Hospital Assets

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.

Muhlenberg Hospital and the Obama Connection: Untold American History

There is a little red, one and a half story, 18th century farmhouse extant in Plainfield, New Jersey, that has more history than most people know. It is located on Randolph Road, and down the street from Muhlenberg Hospital, and it has remained relatively unchanged for centuries.

The house was once the home of Elkanah Fitz Randolph and his family.  Elkanah was born in Mt. Bethel, NJ (now Warren, NJ) on October 9, 1797. He married Phebe Drake, daughter of Hugh and Hannah (Littell) Drake, in Plainfield, NJ, on January 1, 1823. They had eight children: Mary, Rachel, Eliza Ann, Elizabeth, Peter B., David, Samuel, and Alexander.

Elkanah Fitz Randolph was a farmer and owned a good portion of the land in the south eastern part of Plainfield, including the property that Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center (Muhlenberg Hospital) was built on in the early twentieth century.

When Elkanah Fitz Randolph died on February 26, 1877, he died intestate. His estate went through the probate process in Union County, NJ, and eventually, his property was distributed to his remaining children since his wife Phebe had died on June 19, 1876.

In 1901, Rachel Fitz Randolph, Eliza Ann Wooden, Samuel and Alexander Fitz Randolph offered some of the property for the new location of Muhlenberg Hospital at Park Avenue and Randolph Road. They did save the family home, and did not sell that portion of the property. Remarkably, the Fitz Randolph home still stands in Plainfield, NJ, across the street from the Van Blake tennis courts and Plainfield High School Athletic Field Facilities.

The Obama connection?

Both the 4^th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, and Elkanah Fitz Randolph can trace their roots back to Edward Fitz Randolph, who emigrated to Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1630, from England. Edward Fitz Randolph and his wife, Elizabeth (Blossom) Fitz Randolph moved a couple of times in Massachusetts, and finally in 1669, he, his wife, and six of their children moved to Piscataway, NJ. Edward and Elizabeth Fitz Randolph were buried in a church yard in the section of Piscataway that is now Edison, NJ. However, their tombstones cannot be found because during the American Revolution, the British troops marched across the area, and after the war the ground was leveled.

Edward Fitz Randolph is President Barack Obama’s 10^th great grandfather.

Edward Fitz Randolph is Elkanah Fitz Randolph’s 4th great grandfather.

That means that Elkanah Fitz Randolph is President Barack Obama's 5th cousin 6 times removed.

The cousins’ lineage crosses through President Barack Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham. Ann Dunham’s line comes through Edward Fitz Randolph’s son, Nathaniel. Elkanah Fitz Randolph’s line comes through Edward Fitz Randolph’s son, Thomas. Nathaniel was Thomas’ older brother by seventeen years.

Nathaniel Fitz Randolph had a son, Samuel. Samuel had a daughter, Prudence. Prudence Fitz Randolph married Shubal (Shubael) Smith, and their daughter, Mary married Jonathan Dunham (born 1716/17), and thus the Dunham line down to President Barack Obama.

Both the Fitz Randolph and Dunham lines are strong in New Jersey. The Fitz Randolph line can be traced back to many famous, religious, political families throughout New Jersey. The Dunham line can be traced to the first grist mill in New Jersey, and President Obama's 8th great-grandfather's house built in 1671 still stands in Woodbridge, NJ.

Both the Fitz Randolph and the Dunham families married into some of the most notable names in early New Jersey history, including: Drake, Manning, Coon, Stelle, Smalley, Wooden, Runyon, Bloomfield, Shotwell, Vail, Eaton, Singletary, Laing, to name a few.

So who would have ever thought that Muhlenberg Hospital and President Barack Obama had a connection? The land that Muhlenberg Hospital was built on was once owned by President Barack Obama’s ancestors.

2012 copyright: NAP

Photographs and additional information available

Sources and Special Thanks:

Historical Society of Plainfield, Drake House Museum, Plainfield, NJ

Cemeteries located in Plainfield, South Plainfield, Edison, and Woodbridge, NJ

Muhlenberg Independents and Muhlenberg Research Group

Family from South Plainfield, NJ, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and California

Friends from Plainfield, North Plainfield, Piscataway, and Berkeley Heights, NJ

Preservation New Jersey

Local History Departments in Public Libraries in Plainfield, Piscataway, and Warren, NJ

"The Descendants of Edward Fitz Randolph and Elizabeth Blossom, 1630-1950" by Louise Aymar Christian and Howard Stelle Fitz Randolph, 1950.

"Richard Singletary and Some of his Descendants” by Harman R. Clark, Jr., Dunellen, NJ, 1995

google.com

ancestry.com

Various bloggers