Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 2

I SM

HEALTH SYSTEM

February 19, 2009

The Honorable Rashid Burney


City Council President
City of Plainfield
1127 Watchung Avenue
Plainfield, NJ 07060

Dear Council President Burney:

It has come to my attention that the Plainfield City Council held a hearing on February 17
regarding the Plainfield Rescue Squad. Several blog recounts of that meeting suggest that some
Council members and/or members of the Robinson-Briggs Administration indicated that Solaris
Health System is obligated to provide the Plainfield Rescue Squad with additional ambulance
services based on a "handshake agreement" between Solaris and the CitylPOPlRestore
Muhlenberg to settle a pending lawsuit appealing the decision to close acute care services at
Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center. I am very upset by these comments and would like to set
the record straight.

As you know, my office contacted the Robinson-Briggs Administration last October with an
interest in settling the pending CN appeal out of court. The City presented us with a list of
nearly a dozen demands to settle this lawsuit. Solaris verbally agreed to substantially all of those
demands pending a written agreement and speedy withdrawal of the lawsuit by all parties. We
drafted the written agreement reflecting our understanding of the agreed upon terms, which was
forwarded to the City Attorney on October 31. The City Attorney responded on November 5
indicating that the Mayor did not approve of the settlement agreement and promised to forward
suggested changes to Solaris within a week.

From that point on, the City Attorney and the Mayor stopped returning telephone or email
inquiries about the status of the settlement. When approached in person to discuss the settlement
on two separate occasions, the Mayor claimed she was unaware of the status of the negotiation
and promised to follow up within days. We received no response for almost three months.
Finally, on January 26, nearly three months after we were scheduled to finalize our "handshake
agreement" to settle the Muhlenberg CN appeal, my office received a new settlement proposal
from the Mayor's office which included several new provisions that were not discussed last fall.

Affiliates of SOLARISHealth System


JFK Medical Center e Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center 6 JFKJohnson Rehabilitation Institute e New Jersey Neuroscience Institute
The Women's Auxilary Pavilion e JFK Hartwyck Nursing, Convalescent ESt Rehabilitation Centers <11 Muhlenberg Schools of Nursing,
Medical Imaging ESt Therapeutic Sciences Mediplex Surgery Center e Diabetes Center of New Jersey @ Whispering Knoll - Assisted Living Community

65 James Street, P.O. Box 3059, Edison, New Jersey 08818-3059 (732) 321-7000 www.solarishs.org

I
The Honorable Rashid Burney -2- February 19,2009

I would like the Council to know that the City's delay has cost Solaris Health System significant
time, money and resources, all of which could have been used to provide healthcare services to
our communities. I am appalled by City officials' suggestions that Solaris has somehow failed to
abide by an "agreement", which the City negotiated and then refused to sign. Furthermore, I am
dismayed that City officials would publicly attack Solaris for delaying this process when it is the
City of Plainfield that walked away from the negotiating table for nearly three months even
though the Mayor and her Administration were fully aware of the serious impact such a delay
would have on the Muhlenberg Campus, JFK Medical Center and the rest of Solaris Health
System's facilities.

Please be assured that I do intend to resume discussions with the Robinson-Briggs


Administration once I have discussed the City's new demands with the Solaris Health System
Board of Directors at its next meeting. In the meantime, I ask that the Plainfield City Council
refrain from attacking this organization and deepening the fissures that have been created
between Plainfield and its largest healthcare provider.

Sincerely,

CC: Members, Plainfield City Council


Assemblyman Jerry Green
Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs

Вам также может понравиться