NJ-EMS

Newark's St. Michael's Medical Center sold

Newark's last remaining Catholic hospital was sold today to a national conglomerate and state officials agreed to loan the new owner $253 million by using taxpayer-backed bonds.

The two deals will save St. Michael's Medical Center, which has operated in the state's largest city since 1867.

Cathedral Healthcare, affiliated with the Archdiocese of Newark, sold Saint Michael's to Catholic Healthcare East, a national conglomerate. The sale hinged on Cathedral getting the low-interest bonds, as well as the state's permission to close Cathedral's other city hospitals earlier this year: Columbus Hospital in the North Ward and Saint James Medical Center in the Ironbound section.

Collectively, the three hospitals were losing about $6 million a month, hospital executives say.

"We are delighted to welcome Saint Michael's Medical Center into the CHE-NJ family," Alexander J. Hatala, president and CEO of Catholic Health East New Jersey.

The loan will erase debt, replace outmoded equipment, and expand facilities at Saint Michael's Medical Center. It will help cement Saint Michael's future at a time when half of all New Jersey hospitals are operating in the red, and seven hospitals have closed since 2007, not including Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield which is set to shut down Aug. 13.