Jersey City Mayor James Solomon was outside Heights University Hospital on Thursday, pushing to save the facility from closing.
Hospital ownership is set to shut down the location on Saturday after announcing a projected $37 million loss. Only the emergency room is left, where 40 employees remain.
Solomon, City Council members and members of the public are now calling on Gov. Mikie Sherrill to file a court injunction to keep the facility open.
“If these doors close in two days, we become a health care desert,” the mayor said.
“Don't believe them for a second when they tell you, 'We're losing money. We didn't realize how much money we were going to lose.' They knew,” says Debbie White, president of the Health Professionals & Allied Employees (HPAE) union.
Hudson Regional Health has promised to provide space at the medical office building on the hospital property to provide primary care for the neighborhood.
Patients have been using either Jersey City Medical Center or hospitals in nearby Hoboken and Bayonne.