Apprehensive employees joined a small group of state representatives Thursday in the Secaucus High School auditorium for a public hearing before the State Health Planning Board on the proposed sale of Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus.

Members of Emerson-based Health Professionals and Allied Employees union, which represents about 400 employees at Meadowlands, wore red shirts that read "Put it in writing." It was a solidarity effort, calling on the hospital's buyer to address their concerns about diminished care. They hope that full staff and services will be retained.

Fearful of layoffs when the new owners take over the Meadowlands Hospital, the Emerson-based nurses union, Health Professionals and Allied Employees, has collected 700 signatures on an online petition seeking to "protect our community hospital."

The union, which represents about 400 employees at Meadowlands, wants all existing services to be maintained for the next 10 years - including job security for all staffers.

Jeanne Otersen, HPAE public policy director, argued MHA has declined to provide any proposal in a legally binding document.

The state Health Planning Board has scheduled a meeting Aug. 26 on the proposed sale of Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus to a group of investors who plan to operate the facility for profit, the hospital announced Thursday.

If the state approves the $15 million sale, the hospital would become the fifth in New Jersey to be owned or operated as a for-profit institution.

The buyers are MHA LLC, a private investment group that has said it intends to maintain the hospital as an acute-care facility.

At the request of the company purchasing Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center, the Town Council passed a resolution Wednesday requesting that the state agencies reviewing the sale approve it quickly.

MHA, LLC, a Newark-based group of private investors, filed paperwork in February to purchase the hospital from LibertyHealth, the nonprofit entity that currently owns the facility.

On Thursday, June 24, MHA, a for-profit limited liability corporation that is purchasing Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center from LibertyHealth, held a series of “town meetings” with hospital staff regarding the pending sale. The meetings were held at press time and details on what was discussed were not available. The company has said before that they intend to keep the facility as a hospital.