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In response, in part, to Mayor Jimmy Davis’s concern over the fate of Bayonne Medical Center, more than 1,800 city residents have signed an online petition started by the mayor demanding that the hospital remain open to serve the community.

According to the mayor’s office, volunteers will be on the streets and knocking on doors this coming weekend to garner more support to keep a full service hospital open in Bayonne.

“We as a city are doing everything within our power to ensure Bayonne residents will continue to have direct access to an acute care facility,” said Davis. “We have already brought this fight to Trenton and we are making it clear we will not be silent when our safety and well being are at risk. But now, I’m asking for all of Bayonne to come together to save our hospital because we are stronger together and cannot do this alone.”

Last month, Davis announced that he learned the hospital’s current operator, CarePoint Health, was looking to sell the facility. This plan, according to Davis, could include shutting down or utilizing the hospital for other purposes.

Local officials have been working to prevent a potential health care crisis, according to the mayor.

Davis, Sen. Sandra Cunningham, D-31st District, and Democratic Assembly members from the 31st District Nicholas Chiaravalloti and Angela McKnight, met with State Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli to express their concerns about the looming sale.

Last week, the city council gave initial approval to create a Municipal Hospital Authority, which could allow the city to temporarily take control of Bayonne Medical Center’s state charter in the event that a buyer for the facility cannot immediately be found.

In October, RWJBarnabas Health signed a letter of intent to buy Christ Hospital in Jersey City and Hoboken University Medical Center from CarePoint Health. Bayonne Medical Center was not included in the LOI. CarePoint Health said that it was pursuing a separate process seeking a strategic partner for its Bayonne facility.