Pascack case may get input from top court

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Two Bergen County hospitals last week asked the state Supreme Court to overturn an April appellate court ruling that barred the hospitals from appealing a decision by the state’s former heath commissioner that could help Hackensack University Medical Center reopen Pascack Valley Hospital, in Westwood.

Valley Hospital, in Ridgewood, and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, in Englewood, oppose HUMC’s plan to renovate and reopen Pascack Valley as a 128-bed hospital. HUMC owns the largely vacant hospital and operates a satellite emergency department there; the hospital said it will file an application to reopen the hospital by the June 1 deadline set by the state, which in February issued a call for a new hospital in Bergen County.

Valley’s court papers argue the health department’s call was motivated by political pressure from Gov. Chris Christie, who during his election campaign supported the reopening of Pascack Valley. Valley and Englewood contend there’s no need for another hospital in the county; HUMC insists there is more than enough patient demand to warrant reopening the hospital.

– Beth Fitzgerald