Fury as 154-year-old New Jersey hospital closes, breaking promise

🚨 Heights University Hospital is set to close on Saturday.

🚨 Mayor James Solomon and state lawmakers demand that the state intervene.

🚨 Owners cite $60M annual losses, Medicaid cuts and reduced Charity Care funding.

JERSEY CITY — Local officials are outraged that a staple hospital in this New Jersey city is closing months after its leadership promised a bright future for the community.

Founded in 1872, Heights University Hospital, formerly Christ Hospital, is one of only six hospitals in Hudson County. Starting this weekend, the county may only have five hospitals. It's closing for good at 7:30 p.m. Saturday unless the state intervenes, the Gothamist reports.

Emergency department shutdown threatens New Jersey hospital access

Despite a fiscal monitor's oversight, the emergency department is the only part of the hospital still open. The rest of it closed in November. Heights University Hospital faced "ongoing and unsustainable financial losses" of over $60 million a year, the hospital's owners said to the state Health Department.

In May 2025, Hudson Regional Health took over Christ Hospital from the bankrupt CarePoint Health System and renamed the facility on Palisade Ave. to Heights University Hospital.

Mayor James Solomon seeks emergency injunction to save hospital

On Thursday, the regional operator informed the city that it intended to close the hospital's emergency department, according to Jersey City Mayor James Solomon.

"This is unacceptable, especially since just a year ago, their CEO said that the future is bright for patients in the Heights. I will use all my power to reverse this decision," Solomon said in a statement.

The mayor also said he was talking with Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the state Health Department, and Hudson Regional. He said they would look at every option, including an emergency injunction. New Jersey 101.5 has reached out to the governor's office for comment.

Funding reductions blamed for $60M annual losses

Hudson Regional said it invested over $100 million to keep the hospital open. Vijay Chaudhuri, a spokesman for Hudson Regional, said to NJ.com that federal and state cuts spelled the hospital's doom. 

“These losses were due in large to drastic cuts to Medicaid and other critical funding initiated by the One Big Beautiful Bill, the cutting of Charity Care at the state level by roughly half, a rising rate of uninsured patients, and other unforeseen factors,” Chaudhuri said.

State Sen. Raj Mukherji and Assemblywoman Katie Brennan, both Hudson County Democrats, said that being underfunded doesn't give Hudson Regional the right to close without following a required closure process under state law.

In a joint statement, Mukherji and Brennan said that they were calling on the state Health Commissioner to intervene and keep the hospital's emergency department open.

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