The basics:

• Heights University Hospital in Jersey City closure hearing halted
• Hudson Regional withdraws Certificate of Need application, state pushes back
• Legal fight escalates with temporary restraining order
• Officials warn of growing health care access crisis

A rapidly evolving situation upended what expected to be a pivotal public hearing on the closure of Heights University Hospital. The development underscores the increasingly chaotic fight over health care access in Jersey City’s Heights neighborhood.

The April 15 hearing before the State Health Planning Board was set to consider Hudson Regional Health‘s application to formally close the hospital. State officials have insisted the process move forward despite the facility having already ceased operations last month. Heights University Hospital shut down its emergency department March 14, following months of scaled-back services.

And things have shifted dramatically this week.

Hudson Regional Health announced it withdrew its Certificate of Need application. The system cited “renewed efforts with its landlord to evaluate the restoration of health care services in the region.” It also said the hearing would no longer take place.

“HRH has always intended to provide critical health care access in a manner that is financially sustainable in the Heights,” the system said. HRH added it would continue discussions with elected officials on “the most appropriate way to provide health care to the Heights community.”

Pushback

State regulators quickly pushed back, making clear they cannot simply halt the process.

In a sharply worded letter, the New Jersey Department of Health denied the withdrawal request. “Because HUH’s own unilateral actions have already resulted in the closure of the hospital, the closure CN process must come to its conclusion consistent with New Jersey law and regulations, and it is too late for HUH to purport to withdraw the related CN request,” NJDOH wrote.

The department added, “Simply put, an already closed hospital cannot simply ‘relocate’ as if it had continued operations.”

It also, initially, maintained the hearing would proceed as scheduled — only to cancel it hours later after the filing in Hudson County Superior Court of a temporary restraining order on behalf of the hospital.

Simply put, an already closed hospital cannot simply ‘relocate’ as if it had continued operations.
– Department of Health letter

The abrupt reversal drew immediate backlash from local officials. They moved forward with an emergency community meeting in place of the hearing.

Accusations

Jersey City Mayor James Solomon blasted the sequence of events. “HRH just sued to postpone a meeting about closing a hospital that they already closed — think of the absurdity of that,” he said, accusing the system of “illegal actions to close this hospital without following the legally mandated process.”

State Sen. Raj Mukherji, D-32nd District, added, “HRH closed the hospital without following the processes. Canceling this hearing was not the way to go about following the legal process.”

Assemblywoman Katie Brennan, D-32nd District, underscored the stakes, warning the city is already operating with a fraction of the hospital capacity it needs. She added that “that is the urgency” as residents face what she described as a growing “health care desert.”

Residents speak out

Residents echoed those concerns in personal terms. Caitlyn Duffy, a Heights resident, recalled a late-night emergency in 2024 involving a visiting friend and questioned whether the same outcome would be possible now, saying that if she had needed to navigate traffic to reach care farther away, “she would not have made it.”

For its part, Hudson Regional maintains it is collaborating with its landlord “to evaluate the restoration of health care services in the region.”

“HRH remains committed to working constructively with their landlord, state officials, and elected leaders to rebuild and sustain health care access for the Heights community and the residents of Jersey City,” HRH said in an April 15 statement following the hearing’s cancellation.

Solomon said bluntly during the emergent community meeting at Dickinson High School: “This action is the next step in a pattern of disrespect and putting profits over people.”

The Jersey City mayor framed the lack of an emergency department in the Heights as life or death, particularly for somebody dealing with an acute situation that requires urgent care.

“And my commitment to all of you as the mayor is to fight tooth and nail to make sure that you have the health care that you need,” said Solomon.

Please stay with NJBIZ for the very latest on this developing story.