Kessler closes; AtlantiCare Takes Over Hammonton Emergency Room
The hospital’s board of directors terminated the agreement signed Friday for cardiovascular surgeon B. Reddy Dandolu to buy the hospital, Interim Chief Restructuring Officer Michael Sandnes said in a statement released by the hospital......Continue Reading
“The buyer could not obtain and transmit the necessary funds, as agreed upon, in order to continue operation of the hospital,” Sandnes said.
Dandolu signed a letter of intent to purchase the hospital for a reported $7.5 million and agreed to pay a nonrefundable $300,000 down payment by the close of business Monday. That money was to be used to help cover a $500,000 payroll shortfall that prevented the hospital’s employees from getting paid last week.
A $200,000 loan from the town to cover the balance was contingent upon the hospital receiving Dandolu’s down payment first.
“Every effort will be made to ensure that all outstanding pay due will be issued at the earliest opportunity, as this remains the board’s highest priority,” the statement said.
A message left for Dandolu received no response Thursday.
Meanwhile, the hospital reached an agreement with AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center to keep Kessler’s emergency room functioning, according to board President Ronald Sahli.
AtlantiCare’s Chief Operating Officer Lori Herndon confirmed that the Egg Harbor Township-based health care provider will establish a satellite emergency department at Kessler some time in the near future.
Hammonton’s solicitor Brian Howell said in an e-mail to The Press that an agreement between Kessler and AtlantiCare was signed late Thursday night.
Details of the agreement were not immediately available, but Howell said the transition appeared to be “about as seamless as possible.”
“I’m pleased that the town will continue to have a first-rate emergency department,” he said.
On Thursday, rescue squads were transporting patients to other hospitals. The emergency room was still staffed, but only to stabilize patients for transport to other facilities.
Kessler contacted AtlantiCare late Wednesday night about the arrangement to ensure local residents have access to emergency and other health care services, Herndon said in a statement released Thursday.
“We will collaborate with the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Kessler’s board, the Hammonton Rescue Squad and the Hammonton community to plan for the immediate and ongoing health care needs of the community,” she said. “The well-being of patients living in our region is our paramount concern.”
Sahli said the board had no choice but to cease acute care operations, having exhausted every avenue to keep the hospital open.
“We recognize the dedication of our employees in staying with us during this difficult period, but the hospital has reached a point where we cannot legally or in good faith continue to find a partner to keep the hospital’s operations intact,” Sahli said. “We look forward to seeking alternative uses for our facility to continue to provide essential health services to the residents of Hammonton.”
Kessler’s parking lot was busier Thursday than nurse Gwen Barber had ever seen it before.
“I feel like I’m coming to a funeral. Only it’s sadder,” said Barber, 43, of South Hampton. “We’ve made so many friends here and have stuck together through so much. We were truly a team and now it all ends, just like that.”
Throughout the day, the now-unemployed staffers maneuvered through the crowded parking lot and dodged cars circling for parking spots to greet each other with hugs. Some greeted colleagues with whom they worked for decades for what could be the last time.
“It is a very sober day, and there is a lot of concern about what this will mean for our patients,” Karen Owen, a 52-year-old technician from Mays Landing, said after cleaning her belongings out of her office. “We’ve come to know and care for them.” Diane Turnure worked at Kessler for 37 years.
“We have stood by the hospital throughout tough times before and had high hopes that we’d be able to get through it again this time,” the 57-year-old nurse from Hammonton said. “It wasn’t a fight to save our jobs. It was a fight to save our hospital.” It was a battle that motivated a majority of the staff to keep working even after they did not get paid.
“Sure we are hurting financially, but that’s not what hurts the most,” said Debbie Spado, 51, of Hammonton. “The worst part is that a valuable part of the community, which many of us grew up supporting, will no longer be here.”
Peter Gould, the executive vice president of District 1199C of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, said employees were expected to get paid one week’s worth of the three and a half weeks of salary they are owned Wednesday. The rest will be paid as it becomes available through the collection of receivables, he said.
“The hospital’s closure is something that is a real shame for our members and a real shame for the community,” said Gould, adding the union would now take part in “effects” bargaining on behalf of its members. Effects bargaining covers issues such as severance pay, pensions and benefits for laid off workers.
The hospital had to relocate 17 patients Thursday, according to state Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Dawn Thomas. As of 4 p.m. only one of those patients was still at the hospital, she said.
At 7 p.m., the hospital closed its doors.
The patients were sent to several facilities, Thomas said, including AtlantiCare, South Jersey Hospital-Elmer, South Jersey Hospital-Vineland, Innova Health and Rehab, Virtua West Jersey Hospital-Berlin, and Kennedy Health System’s Stratford campus.
There were 45 patients at the hospital on March 6, according to Sandnes, but the hospital voluntarily stopped admitting patients earlier this week after the Monday deadline was missed.
Virginia Treacy, executive director of the health care union JNESO, District Council 1, blasted hospital officials for Kessler’s failure.
“This loss of Kessler Memorial Hospital is tragic, inexcusable and utterly avoidable — and hospital management should only blame themselves,” Treacy said in a statement released Thursday. “Kessler management’s refusal to modify their full-service acute care to a model that other small community hospitals have found successful, coupled with futile, myopic attempts to find outside buyers, led to this situation.”
Treacy claimed JNESO employees are still owed more than $200,000 from when the hospital declared a Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in September 2006.
But for now, the Town Council must prepare Hammonton residents for life without Kessler for the first time since 1964. Mayor John DiDonato — who offered $20,000 out of his own pocket last week to help guarantee the town’s $200,000 loan — called Thursday “a sad day” for the community.
“While everyone is disappointed with Kessler closing, let it be said the employees went above and beyond to try and save the hospital, as this was the fourth week they were working without pay,” DiDonato said via e-mail. “On behalf of the community and everyone that ever used the hospital, I want to thank them for their dedication and service to our town.”
Councilman Sam Rodio said the town would find a way to persevere.
“This is devastating for a town that wanted desperately to keep its hospital, and now we are left with an empty feeling,” Rodio said. “But we are a strong community filled with strong people.”
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