Secaucus Hospital Owner Fights To Buy Bayonne, Hoboken Hospitals

SECAUCUS, NJ — The battle for Hudson County healthcare dominance is heating up. This week, Yan Moshe, the owner of the tiny Secaucus hospital, announced he intends to buy the land on which Bayonne Medical Center and the Hoboken hospital sit, throwing into chaos a deal CarePoint had to sell the Bayonne Medical Center to an independent LLC.

In return, on Thursday CarePoint filed a restraining order against Hudson Regional, Moshe and his top doctor, Dr. Nizar Kifaieh, the hospital's CEO, seeking to block them from getting involved in any future negotiations.

A Hudson County judge will decide on the legality of the restraining order in court this Monday; all parties are due in Hudson County superior court.

In 2018, the floundering, poorly-rated Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus was sold to real estate developer Moshe, who renamed it Hudson Regional. At the time it was sold, the Secaucus hospital was operating at about 13 percent capacity, meaning on any given day only about 26 of its 200 beds were full. It was routinely given "D" grades for patient safety.

Since then, Moshe has undergone an ambitious campaign to turn the hospital around, hosting free health screenings and street fairs and erecting billboards touting its short ER wait time. This spring, the hospital even secured the title of being Hudson County's primary coronavirus testing site, a plum and lucrative designation.

On Tuesday of this week Moshe took his most aggressive step yet, announcing he has "entered into contract" to buy the properties on which Bayonne Medical Center and Hoboken University Medical Center sit.

Moshe said he is in contract to buy the land from current owner Avery Eisenreich, paying $76 million for Bayonne and $144 million for Hoboken. Hudson Regional plans to assume ownership within 90 days, as soon as closing can happen, according to his media team.

Moshe would not close the hospitals down, his spokesman assured Patch.

"Hudson Regional Hospital is unequivocally committed to running Bayonne and Hoboken pending its purchase offer to CarePoint," said Moshe's spokesman Ron Simoncini.

In addition to the land, Moshe has also offered to buy and take over operations at all three hospitals: Christ, Hoboken and Bayonne.

"Well, CarePoint responded with a restraining order, which suggests they are not interested," remarked Simoncini dryly.

Some history: Hoboken University Medical Center, Bayonne Medical Center and Christ Hospital in the Jersey City Heights all used to be owned by the for-profit healthcare company CarePoint, which declared bankruptcy last year. In November, CarePoint said they wanted to sell off all three hospitals and were looking for a buyer. Robert Wood Johnson was briefly interested in buying the Bayonne hospital, but the deal fell through.

Adding to the complication is that Eisenreich, who owns a chain of North Jersey nursing homes called Alaris Health, owns the land on which the Bayonne Medical Center sits. And he has a 70% stake in the Hoboken University Medical Center land and 25% of the hospital business, according to NJ TV. Eisenreich also owns a 25% stake in both the hospital business and the property at Christ.

Eisenreich and Moshe apparently worked out a deal to sell the land, while CarePoint already has an existing agreement to sell to BMC Hospital LLC, composed of Wayne Hatami, Anthony Degradi, Feliks Kogan and Gregg Rock of DMC, a subsidiary of Surgicorps.

"Hudson Regional’s status as a landlord does not give it the right to take over the hospitals," said CarePoint.

Countered Simoncini:

"They are saying that as the tenant on the property, they should dictate to the landlord."

The BMC LLC deal would also keep Bayonne open as a hospital. That deal, however, would require public financing, whereas Simoncini said Moshe's offer is "all cash."

"In their deal, taxpayers would underwrite a loan," said Simoncini. "Moshe's offer is a cash deal and would not require any public financing. He will match the amount that BMC is expected to pay. Why isn't Yan's money as good as BMC's money?"

Hudson Regional provided CarePoint a “Proof of Funds” letter, but CarePoint has not yet responded.

“Last night we agreed to an unconditional deposit payment and purchase price for the hospital properties and we expect to close within 90 days,” says Dr. Kifaieh. "As of now there is no judgment that would prevent us from closing."

To which CarePoint replied that: "No one has seen the purchase and sale agreement or any notice concerning the transfer of title."

In addition, CarePoint has significant legal claims pending against Eisenreich and Alaris Health, which it says have yet to be resolved in court.

Bayonne Mayor James Davis, Freeholder Kenny Kopacz and Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise support the sale of Bayonne to BMC, saying they want Bayonne to have its own hospital.

Any sales of these hospitals, or the land on which they sit, needs to reviewed and approved by the New Jersey Department of Health. Stay tuned!