Photo by Jordan Coll / SOC Images.
A public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, April 15, turned into something more as Hudson Regional Health filed a restraining order against the state’s Department of Health (DOH), and a judge issued an injunction that made the meeting “unofficial.”
Community members, state and city officials alike held the meeting anyway.
“A temporary restraining order has been entered by Hudson County Superior Court,” which prevented the state’s Health Planning Board and the NJ DOH from holding the public meeting in the first place.
Slice of Culture witnessed the staff members of the DOH walk out of Dickinson High School, which was a rescheduled public meeting location that the DOH requires by state mandate through the State Health Planning Board to conduct a public hearing within 30 days, as reported by Slice of Culture on the scheduled meeting.
A new hearing has not been posted on the State Health Planning Board public hearings site.
Slice of Culture reached out to DOH, but no response has been provided at the time of this reporting. According to an article by Jersey City Times and the court order, the new date is set for May 22.
The court order obtained by Slice of Culture is the legal injunction filed in the Hudson County Superior Court, pursuing a restraining order on behalf of HRH to DOH staff members. The new court date would be to adhere to a new public hearing in determining the hospital’s future.
“This is the opposite of what we want as a community partner, this is why we cannot trust them with our healthcare moving forward,” said Jersey City Mayor James Solomon.
“Maybe someone from HRH will watch and just see the amount of anger in the community their illegal actions have generated.”
Members of the public corralled their way into the high school’s auditorium, echoing the need to keep the hospital rather than succumbing to a local healthcare desert entirely.
“Coming in and hearing about the restraining order, I went, ‘ok I guess it’s corruption’ because it’s the law for thee and not for me,” said Jack McKee, a longtime resident of Jersey City, who told the public his mother worked at the hospital for 41-years.
“They put money in the coffers of the people who move on to the next thing,” McKee added, referring to Hudson Regional Health shutting down services at Christ Hospital, a healthcare facility that has served the Jersey City Heights community and more for 154 years.
How Money, Allegations And More Affected The Hospital
The seeds of the closure were planted well before 2026, with the idea of building over 2,200 luxury condos rather than preserving the integrity of University Heights Hospital.
Slice of Culture reported on sexual allegations brought on by two women against Nizar Kifaieh, the President and CEO of Hudson Regional Hospital (HRH).
Before employees learned of the staffing cuts, HRH quietly submitted design renderings to the city’s planning department for a 10-story residential complex to replace Christ Hospital — documents dated September 25.
Published by HudPost, the renderings reveal a development proposal that would split the property into residential and medical zones, with most of the land earmarked for housing rather than healthcare.
In November 2024, the previous operator, CarePoint Health, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections, blaming rising costs and lack of state funding from New Jersey. The healthcare operator pledged to the community to keep its hospitals operating while securing $67 million in financing.
HRH told state officials the hospital had become financially untenable, having bled $74 million last year alone and projected to lose another $30 million in 2026. Under New Jersey law, however, a hospital cannot simply shutter its doors, the state must first grant a certificate of need authorizing the closure.
That process was never completed, with HRH closing the facility and abruptly deciding to withdraw the application of the Certificate of Need, a required state process in proving a healthcare facility is in need of repairs or improvements.
In a move that drew swift condemnation from regulators and elected officials alike, HRH closed the hospital in March without receiving state approval, then announced late Tuesday, April 14, it was withdrawing its closure application altogether, which is the latest whiplash in a saga that has dragged on for months and left New Jersey’s second-largest city with a single-functioning emergency room.
Community Continues To Add Pressure
“This is bulls—!” said State Senator Raj Mukherji (LD-32), among members of the community, denouncing their outrage on the timeline of the hospital’s abrupt closure.
Deborah Max shared her experience as a former employee, criticizing the financial mismanagement and stated to the public she served as the former director of the hospital’s psychiatric services, which she said was removed on Nov. 14 of last year.
“There have been a series of bad actors,” said Max, “I think everybody in this room knows and I do not want to be redundant.”
She also added that Heights University Hospital was the sole facility in the vicinity that addressed pregnant women who were intoxicated.
Emily Carroll, who spoke among the public speakers, urged the Department of Health to revoke HRH’s license and the community to pressure for a public hospital.
“It is just unbelievable the mess that we are in right now and it’s not fair that a person or a corporation can basically get away with whatever they want as long as they can pay the bill to break laws,” she added.
Personal stories underscored the life-saving services provided by Christ Hospital, advocating for its reopening.
“Those memories are tied,” said Danielle D’Adamo, a life-long resident, who added to the public on how she started life there, being born in the hospital and referring to family members who have passed, but their memories carry on.
“I have walked those halls in fear, sat in rooms holding my breath and also felt relief because care was right there in my community when we needed it the most. I’ve come back there over the years, because when minutes matter, that is where we went.”
You can sign on the hospital’s petition here in the fight of staying informed and engaged with the hospital’s future.
