In The News

Big Hospital Merger Plans Part of of Dizzying Day for N.J. Medical Industry 

It was a dizzying day for the hospital industry Wednesday, as executives from five North Jersey hospitals announced plans to sell, explore a merger, and seek a new buyer to shore up their stake in the state’s competitively "harsh" health care market.

Industry experts said even more sales and consolidations were looming as hospitals brace for the financial consequences of the federal health care reform law — insuring more people while cutting costs — which will take effect in two years.

Mandatory Overtime, the Right Rx for Nursing Care 

Hospital nurses -- and their patients -- are benefitting from laws capping mandatory overtime, according to a new report that found laws in 16 states, including New Jersey, effective.

"Nurses routinely work long shifts, often as long as 12 hours straight. These laws were intended to prevent hospitals from piling mandatory overtime on top of such shifts," said Carol Brewer professor at the School of Nursing, University at Buffalo, and one of the study's authors.

Realigning of stars at UMDNJ 

GOVERNOR Christie's relationship with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark began long before he got to Trenton. It was then-U.S. Attorney Christie who spearheaded a federal takeover of UMDNJ after an investigation revealed a series of problems, one of which was giving a no-show job to a prominent state senator.

New state university proposed for Newark 

The University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey will be revamped and Rowan University will take over the Rutgers University-Camden campus, under a report championed by Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday.

Recommendations also call for a new New Jersey Health Sciences University in Newark to replace UMDNJ, and they reaffirmed the idea of merging Robert Wood Johnson Medical School with Rutgers’ main New Brunswick-Piscataway campuses.

The Record: Carving UMDNJ 

GOVERNOR Christie's relationship with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark began long before he got to Trenton. It was then-U.S. Attorney Christie who spearheaded a federal takeover of UMDNJ after an investigation revealed a series of problems, one of which was giving a no-show job to a prominent state senator.