Flint, Mich.-based Insight, a health network that includes two hospitals and multiple ASCs, has stepped in to run operations and stabilize finances at CarePoint Health, according to Bloomberg.
CarePoint operates three safety-net hospitals: Hoboken University Medical Center and Christ Hospital in Jersey City, N.J., two nonprofit facilities, and Bayonne Medical Center, a for-profit entity.
Uncompensated care demands, escalating homelessness, workforce challenges and rising costs have contributed to significant operating losses at CarePoint, with its hospitals "in great financial need," a spokesperson for the system said in a recent statement shared with Becker's.
In 2021, Insight acquired Mercy Hospital & Medical Center — a bankrupt safety-net hospital in Chicago that was set to close — from Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health. Since then, it has stabilized the hospital's finances and expanded services, according to CBS Chicago.
Insight's leadership team aims to apply a similar strategy to improve the financial health of the three CarePoint hospitals.
"We've been in this situation before and we do have a strong sense of optimism for these hospitals to continue to stay open," Insight Chief Strategy Officer Atif Bawahab told Bloomberg. "But at the same time, we do have to make changes, and those changes will take some time."
Insight eventually plans to rebrand CarePoint's hospitals under its banner, according to the publication.
In a statement shared with Becker's, CarePoint President and CEO Achintya Moulick, MD, said ensuring that the system's safety-net hospitals get the investment they need to operate sustainably remains a top priority, "and we are exploring various options to meet that goal."
"Both CarePoint Health and Insight share in the essential values of putting patients above profits and providing high-quality, compassionate care to the most vulnerable,"Justin Drew, vice president of marketing, strategy and patient experience, said. "During these early weeks of collaboration both of our executive teams have engaged extremely well and we look forward to continued partnership and collaboration."
Earlier this year, CarePoint signed a letter of intent with Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus, N.J., to combine under a new management company, Hudson Health System. Hudson Regional, a for-profit facility, would combine with CarePoint's three hospitals under a new operating company. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions.