The Salem Medical Center is a hospital in

Salem County Salem County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its western boundary is formed by the Delaware River and its eastern terminus is the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaware. Its cou ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

located at the

Pointers Pointer may refer to: Places * Pointer, Kentucky * Pointers, New Jersey * Pointers Airport, Wasco County, Oregon, United States * The Pointers, a pair of rocks off Antarctica People with the name * Pointer (surname), a surname (including a l ...

Mannington Township Mannington Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Salem County, New Jersey, Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 1,475, a decrease of 331 (−18.3%) from the ...

. It was founded as the Memorial Hospital of Salem County.

History

The hospital was founded in 1919, after which it operated as a non-profit. It was founded in downtown

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

and moved to

in 1951. It has 126 beds, and in 2017, New Jersey approved a plan to sell it to Prime Healthcare Foundation. The name of the hospital was change to Salem Medical Center in 2019 when it was acquired by Community Healthcare Associates. In 2002,

Community Health Systems Community Health Systems (CHS) is a Fortune 500 company based in Franklin, Tennessee. It was the largest provider of general hospital healthcare services in the United States in terms of number of acute care facilities. In 2014, CHS had around 20 ...

acquired Memorial Hospital for $34 million. When the purchase occurred, the Salem Health and Wellness Foundation was formed, with the goal over overseeing donations and proceeds acquired by MHSC. This was because the state required the proceeds from the sale to Community Health Systems to be "overseen by a foundation that would pay to enhance medical services in the area." However, 12 years later, Senate President Steve Sweeney argued that the foundation was sitting on $56 million, and had "disbursed very little to expand health care services." In 2010, a plan by MHSC to close its

maternity ward Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births global ...

was withdrawn after public outcry. In November 2013, the hospital's board again applied to close its maternity ward, so it could allocate resources to other areas such as surgical infrastructure. The

New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. New Jersey's State Board of Health was established in 1877. Its administrative functions were vested in the Department of Health, which was crea ...

approved the decision on April 1, 2014. The health department noted that the hospital had only one

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

at the staff, and births at the hospital had dropped from 385 in 2004 to 155 in 2012.Young, Alex
"Memorial Hospital of Salem County to close maternity ward
,

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...

, April 8, 2014. Accessed April 16, 2017. As a condition of the closure, the hospital was still required to transport patients to other

inpatient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ca ...

maternity services, or provide emergency stabilization to women arrive pregnant, and delivery in cases where birth is imminent. A local healthcare union spoke out against the decision, and

Health Professionals and Allied Employees The Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) is a health care labor union in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that represents registered nurses and other health care workers in hospitals, nursing homes, blood banks and clinics in the public an ...

argued the closure would negatively affect local income-women. In the end of May 2014, the hospital closed its maternity ward. In 2014, lawmakers in New Jersey drafted legislation to make it easier to sell Memorial Hospital to a potential non-profit purchaser."Poll: Should Memorial Hospital of Salem County be sold?
:

/ ''

South Jersey Times The ''South Jersey Times'' is a newspaper serving the South Jersey area of New Jersey. It began publication on November 4, 2012, following a merger of three affiliated papers, ''Gloucester County Times'', ''The News of Cumberland County'' and '' ...

'' on October 28, 2014, author Don E. Woods"N.J. lawmakers push bill allowing Salem hospital to go non-profit if sold
: ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'' on Susan K. Livio, October 25, 2014 In 2015, Community Health Systems Inc. agreed to sell the assets of Memorial Hospital of Salem County to Prime Healthcare Foundation. It also sold all related outpatient services."Tennessee firm sells South Jersey hospital
: ''

Philadelphia Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

'' on December 1, 2015, author John George The hospital CEO Ryan Jensen resigned in December 2016, after joining as CEO in May 2014.Gallo Jr, Bill
"Memorial Hospital of Salem County CEO resigns
,

, December 15, 2016. Accessed April 16, 2017. The hospital had shrunk somewhat in size by then, and apart from closing its maternity ward it had decreased its beds from 140 to 126 in terms of registration. In that month, the hospital also re-elected new board members."Memorial Hospital of Salem County board re-elects leadership team
by

on December 16, 2016, community bulletin The sale of the hospital was approved by the New Jersey State Health Planning Board in early February 2017, for $15 million. The facility had 126 beds. The board voted 7 to 0 in approval of the sale to Prime Healthcare Foundation."What's next after N.J. hospital sale gets key approval from state
:

on February 2, 2017, author Bill Gallo Jr. On the same day the state approved the sale Prime Healthcare backed out of the deal. The hospital is currently still looking for a buyer. In 2018, Community Healthcare Associates announced plans to acquire Memorial Hospital of Salem County. The plan was approved and CHA acquired the hospital on February 1, 2019, renaming the hospital “Salem Medical Center.” On December 21, 2021, Salem Medical Center announced that

Inspira Health Network Inspira Health is a charitable non-profit health care organization comprising three hospitals, two additional emergency rooms, and several multi-specialty health centers among other locations. These include urgent care, cancer treatment, imaging, ...

was to acquire the hospital. Almost a year later, on December 15, 2022, Inspira Health Network acquired Salem Medical Center.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1919 establishments in New Jersey Hospitals in New Jersey Hospitals established in 1919 Mannington Township, New Jersey Community Health Systems

History

See also

References

External links