This half-hour program consists of a panel of healthcare providers, community activists and public advocacy representatives who consider the potentially devastating impact of hospital closures on the communities they were designed to serve. Further, the panelists strategize on how to effectively communicate to the public how they can gain access to quality care and take advantage of community health care services in the wake of hospital closures.
Since 1992, inadequate funding and other pressures have forced 18 New Jersey hospitals to close, while many others face serious financial difficulties that threaten their existence. When hospitals close there is a significant impact on communities, healthcare workers, patients and area residents. Most importantly, access to health care services for the some of the state's most vulnerable citizens becomes extremely limited. According to community and public advocacy organizations, hospitals are required to ensure that the community will not be negatively impacted before facility doors are closed. In many instances, this is not occurring, which leaves the community unprepared to deal with the fallout of a hospital closure.
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Herb Conaway
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Renee Steinhagen
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Joseph Della Fave |
John Brennan
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Guests:
New Jersey Assemblyman Dr. Herb Conaway – serves as Chair of the Health and Senior Services Committee and is a family physician in private practice.
Renee Steinhagen – An attorney and Executive Director of the New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center.
Joseph Della Fave – Executive Director of the Ironbound Community Corporation located in Newark, New Jersey.
Dr. John Brennan – Executive Director of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
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