JERSEY CITY—Hudson Regional Health has spent five weeks since the March 14 emergency room shutdown at Heights University Hospital trying to exit the state review process that could force it to reopen. On April 13, the operator withdrew its Certificate of Need closure application and claimed it would relocate the facility instead. The New Jersey Department of Health denied the withdrawal the next day. HRH then won a temporary restraining order from Hudson County Superior Court Judge Anthony D'Elia that blocked the public hearing scheduled for April 15. The state must file a written response by May 14; HRH has until May 19 to file opposition.
NJBallot previously reported the two-week ER closure extension that Acting Health Commissioner Raynard Washington secured on March 3, the final shutdown on March 13, the protest arrests on March 14, and the Jersey City Council's March 25 eminent domain resolution. The April maneuver adds a new legal front to a fight that has already cost the operator $128,000 in state fines, triggered municipal seizure threats, and left Jersey City with one acute care hospital for nearly 300,000 residents.
The facility at 176 Palisade Avenue opened in 1872 as Christ Hospital. CarePoint Health operated it from around 2012 until a November 2024, when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware federal court with approximately $165 million in debt. Hudson Regional Health acquired the facility through the bankruptcy proceedings and rebranded it to Heights University Hospital.
But Hudson Regional Health had its own financial issues, and closed the inpatient medical and surgical departments in November 2025 without state authorization. The Department of Health fined HRH $1,000 per day for 128 days, totaling $128,000, in a January 16 penalty notice that cited N.J.A.C. 8:43E-3.4(a)12 for failure to implement Certificate of Need conditions. The emergency room stayed open with a skeleton crew until March 14, when HRH locked the doors despite a municipal injunction attempt that a state judge denied hours before the shutdown.
Jersey City Council Threatens Seizure
On March 25, the City Council passed a resolution 8-0 directing the Planning Board to investigate whether the site qualifies as an "area in need of redevelopment" under the local statutory prerequisite for eminent domain. Mayor James Solomon called the closure the first time in New Jersey history a hospital had closed without following proper notification procedures. He added that eminent domain was "absolutely an option." HRH spokesman Vijay Chaudhuri responded that seizure would be "extraordinarily costly and time consuming" and would not address what he called the "fundamental challenges inherited by HRH."
Operator Claims Relocation, State Disputes Framing
The April 13 withdrawal letter from HRH counsel Alexis Goldberger introduced the relocation framing. Goldberger wrote that HRH was "actively evaluating its options vis-à-vis the Facility, including potentially relocating the Facility to an alternative site" and claimed the operator had engaged the property's landlord and Jersey City officials regarding construction of a new facility.
NJDOH Certificate of Need Executive Director Michael Kennedy denied the withdrawal on April 14, stating the closure application would proceed under full review and that "an already closed hospital cannot simply 'relocate' as if it had continued operations." The State Health Planning Board had scheduled a public hearing for April 15 at William L. Dickinson High School. At approximately 4:40 PM that day, Kennedy told assembled residents that HRH had obtained the order blocking the hearing.
Jersey City mayoral spokesman Nathaniel Styer flatly denied Goldberger's claim that HRH had engaged the city on relocation. "HRH has not engaged the city about relocating Christ Hospital or any other serious alternative proposal," Styer told NJ.com and the New Jersey Monitor. Assemblywoman Katie Brennan, who attended the cancelled hearing, said the certificate of need process is legally required and "the hospital has no authority to cancel it."
Property Records Show Complicated Legal Split
The property structure behind the dispute is split between operating license and real estate title. Hudson Hospital Opco LLC holds the state license for the facility. CH 750 Park LLC and CH Castle LLC have held the real property since a 2022 lease transfer. NJDOH flagged that transfer for lacking required advance notice and warned the groups would face "further action under separate review." Meanwhile, Chaudhuri has claimed Avery Eisenreich of Alaris Health owns the land, creating a three-way dispute among the city, the operator and the landowner.
The facility accumulated $375,500 in state penalties within twelve months. CarePoint Health received a $247,500 infection control fine in April 2025 for violations discovered during a June 2024 survey. Then HRH received the $128,000 unauthorized closure penalty in January 2026. The Department of Health also issued financial monitor notices to Bayonne, Hoboken and Jersey City officials for all three CarePoint hospitals on January 12, 2024, the same day CarePoint and HRH announced their planned merger.
Labor Complaints Allege Procedural Violations
Labor records show friction extending back to before the final closure. The Health Professionals and Allied Employees union filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in December 2024, alleging that HRH unilaterally switched health insurance providers in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. HPAE President Debbie White said that HRH had committed "illegal actions regarding Christ Hospital" and said the operator "intentionally ruined the facility" to justify closure.
AFSCME District 1199J filed a WARN Act lawsuit in March 2026, alleging HRH laid off 37 workers in October 2025 and 92 workers in November 2025 without the required 60-day notice. HRH spokesman Chaudhuri claimed the matter is in arbitration and that "there is no lawsuit," a statement court filings and multiple outlets contradict.
Capacity Strains at Jersey City's Sole Remaining Hospital
The closure has concentrated Hudson County's emergency capacity in a single facility that confronts overcapacity and environmental risk. Rebuild by Design's 2026 analysis found 41% of Jersey City public assets are in current flood zones, including three healthcare facilities, with that share projected to reach 58% by 2050. JCMC has constructed a 1,500-foot flood wall with deployable barriers since Hurricane Sandy forced its closure in 2012.
HRH's financial claims lack independent audit verification. The operator told Central Jersey the facility cost them $61 million in 2025 alone. Goldberger's letter to NJDOH claims HRH invested "more than $300 million in its hospital system," without specifying the Jersey City allocation. The state provided $10 million in 2024 and a $2 million payroll advance in fall 2025. CarePoint had previously indicated it needed $130 million in state funding to continue operating.
The May 14 and May 19 filing deadlines set the next procedural checkpoint. If the state prevails, the SHPB hearing would resume and the closure review would continue. If HRH prevails, the process could stall indefinitely while the operator maintains its license and the 154-year-old property sits shuttered. The Jersey City Planning Board investigation runs on a separate municipal track. Neither timeline guarantees the return of emergency services to the Heights neighborhood.
Related Articles
• Jersey City Takes First Step Toward Seizing Closed Hospital Through Eminent Domain
• Heights University Hospital in Jersey City Closes ER Tonight
• Jersey City Heights ER Closure Extended 2 Weeks as State Pressure Mounts
• UPDATE: Jersey City Hospital Protest Leads to 2 Arrests
Sources
• Gene Rosenblum, NJ Department of Health, "Notice of Assessment of Penalties" (January 16, 2026)
• Alexis Goldberger, Mandelbaum Barrett PC, "Letter to Michael Kennedy Re: Withdrawal of CN Re: Heights University Hospital" (April 13, 2026)
• Michael Kennedy, NJ Department of Health, "Response Letter to Goldberger Re: Heights University Hospital" (April 14, 2026)
• NJ Department of Health, "Amended Media Advisory" (April 15, 2026)
• Gene Rosenblum, NJ Department of Health, "Notice of Assessment of Penalties" to CarePoint Health Christ Hospital (April 17, 2025)
• NJ Department of Health, "Revised CarePoint Health-Christ Hospital Certificate of Need Recommendations" (2022-2023)
• Susan K. Livio, NJ.com, "N.J. hospital fined $2.5K a day for months over dangerous health violations" (April 18, 2025)
• Susan K. Livio, NJ.com, "Crisis averted? N.J. hospital suddenly pulls application for closure ahead of public hearing" (April 16, 2026)
• New Jersey Monitor, "NJ health officials spar with Hudson County hospital system" (April 16, 2026)
• John Heinis, Hudson County View, "Jersey City Council reviews potential eminent domain of Heights hospital land" (March 24, 2026)
• John Heinis, Hudson County View, "Jersey City to consider utilizing eminent domain of Heights University Hospital land" (March 21, 2026)
• Dan Israel, Hudson County View, "NJDOH's Heights hospital meeting up in the air after HRH withdraws certificate of need" (April 14, 2026)
• John Heinis, Hudson County View, "NJDOH appoints financial monitor for CarePoint Health hospitals" (January 17, 2024)
• ROI-NJ, "Hudson Regional Health pulls certificate for closing for Heights University Hospital" (April 17, 2026)
• Becker's Hospital Review, "Hudson Regional withdraws closure notice for shuttered hospital" (April 16, 2026)
• Central Jersey, "Jersey City Hospital Closure Fight Ends in Court Block" (April 16, 2026)
• Rebuild by Design, "Jersey City Flood Risk and Public Assets Analysis" (2026)
• City of Jersey City, "Press Release: City Council to vote on authorizing Planning Board investigation into potential redevelopment of former Christ Hospital site" (March 20, 2026)