Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus, N.J., has closed on a deal to buy the land under CarePoint Health's Bayonne (N.J.) Medical Center, a move that will likely prolong the uncertainty of a sale between CarePoint and another prospective buyer, according to NJ.com.
Hudson Regional purchased the land for $76 million. The hospital takes over the land from Avery Eisenreich, also the owner of nursing home chain Alaris Health, who has significant stakes in CarePoint's hospitals. Mr. Eisenreich not only owned the property that Bayonne Medical Center sits on, he also owns 70 percent of the property at Hoboken (N.J.) University Medical Center and a 25 percent business stake in Hoboken University Medical Center.
In a news release announcing the land purchase, Hudson Regional CEO Nizar Kifaieh, MD, said the Secaucus hospital "is the natural next operator of Bayonne Medical Center."
The deal is a victory for Hudson Regional, but it comes as a setback for Bayonne-based BMC Hospital, which signed a deal to acquire Bayonne Medical Center from CarePoint Health in March.
BMC Hospital sued to stop the land purchase in June, arguing Hudson Regional had not obtained a certificate of need from the state health department, and it should not be able to purchase the land without the approval. But a superior court judge refused to stop the sale, and the health department said July 31 that the land sale could move forward.
BMC Hospital said it plans to appeal the decision and the land purchase will ultimately be "decided by the courts, the department of health, and the eminent domain process already underway."
Hudson Regional also is trying to acquire the land that Hoboken University Medical Center sits on.