LAKEWOOD — Rumors that Kimball Medical Center will be closing are premature.
In fact, the 95-year-old medical facility on Route 9 in Lakewood is seeking to become an independent, freestanding medical center and divest itself as an affiliate of the St. Barnabas Health Care System (SBHCS), New Jersey’s largest and most diversified health care delivery system.
“Soon in January, I expect to receive a proposal from St. Barnabas and begin negotiations,” said Ray Shea, the chairman of the Kimball Medical Center Board of Trustees. “There are a lot of complex issues, but we will explore all options that allow Kimball to remain a not-for-profit institution.”
Shea, an attorney, said Kimball Medical Center became an SBHCS affiliate 11 years ago and its current contracted affiliation runs through 2009.
“I hope a mutually agreeable option will be reached well before the end of 2009,” he said.
In 2008, Kimball Medical Center, as an SBHCS affiliate, suffered an $8 million loss and a recent series of personnel layoffs has taken place. A remedy may be found to stem this tide as an independent facility.
“There are reimbursement problems involving Medicare, Medicaid and charity care, as well as the increasing numbers of uninsured patients,” Shea said this week. “As an independent medical facility, I feel we can lobby more effectively for ourselves and not as a part of a large corporation.”
For the foreseeable future, Shea does not envision the closure of Kimball Medical Center.
“Institutions close because they are declining,” he said. “Kimball is a very busy hospital with a good census. We received $1 million from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Hospital Stabilization Fund that was only given to essential care hospitals. We are deemed essential for medical care for this community and especially for the elderly and the poor.”
A Dec. 22 news release stated that Kimball Medical Center received additional charity care funding in 2008 in the amount of $1.7 million. Also, it said that the medical center has received the state’s highest scores in the Emergency Department category for more than six years and is in the top 10 percent of all hospitals in the state in terms of operating efficiency.
“I can’t see the future, but I’m hopeful there will no future layoffs,” Shea said. “I look forward to the challenges of 2009. It’s always exciting to be involved with the future of medical care.”
Kimball Medical Center, formerly Paul Kimball Hospital and named after its founder, was established in 1913 and serves northern Ocean County and southern Monmouth County.
It is a 350-bed acute-care hospital with more than 450 physicians on its medical staff and nearly 1,000 employees. Annually, the medical facility cares for 53,000 emergency department visits, 17,000 inpatient and observation admissions, and 150,000 outpatient visits.
A requested statement from St. Barnabas Health Care System regarding the developments at Kimball Medical Center yielded the following e-mail:
“We are in discussions with the Board of Trustees and exploring all options for Kimball Medical Center in an attempt to secure its future.” The statement was attributed to Michael J. Slusarz, vice president of marketing and public relations, St. Barnabas Health Care System.
In this region, Community Medical Center in Toms River and Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch are also affiliates of the St. Barnabas Health Care System.