The Bayonne City Council on Feb. 19 introduced a zoning ordinance designed to make sure that Bayonne Medical Center remains a full-service hospital.

A public hearing on the measure is scheduled for the next council meeting on March 18 according to a spokesperson for Mayor Jimmy Davis.

Hoboken and Jersey City introduced similar ordinances earlier in the month, with the goal of protecting the CarePoint hospitals in each of those cities from being redeveloped into residential buildings.

A story in the Hudson Reporter said that CarePoint Health, owner of the medical center, dissolved and has been liquidating its assets including Bayonne Medical Center (BMC), Christ Hospital, and Hoboken University Medical (HUMC).

Last October, CarePoint Health and RWJBarnabas Health signed a letter of intent, whereby Christ Hospital and HUMC will become part of RWJBH.

According to multiple reports, Avery Eisenreich, owner of Alaris Health, purchased the real estate of the Bayonne and Hoboken hospitals. Eisenreich also owns 25 percent of Christ Hospital.

CarePoint officials said that Eisenreich is not interested in operating Bayonne Medical Center, nor in helping CarePoint Health in its negotiations to find a new operator. While BMC has a new landlord, CarePoint is still searching for a strategic partner to operate the hospital and lease it from Eisenreich. According to a lawsuit filed on Dec. 4 on behalf of CarePoint Health, Eisenreich has supposedly interfered with CarePoint’s negotiations to find a hospital operator for Bayonne Medical Center and instead allegedly intends to turn it into a nursing home.

Bayonne Law Director John Coffey said that the new ordinance was created to better define the zone that Bayonne Medical Center is built on, according to the Hudson Reporter.