Barnert Hospital

Barnert Hospital is a 236-bed hospital in Paterson, New Jersey. Until recently it offered perinatal care, family care services and an outpatient infusion unit treating high risk pregnancies and hematology-oncology patients. The hospital has experienced serious financial difficulties for the last 10 years and filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection on August 15th, 2007. The hospital stopped receiving new admissions effective September 24, 2007 and was scheduled to close on September 28, 2007 at 5PM. Soon after the closing announcement both the State and Federal governments appropriated $3.5 million to keep the hospital open for the next 2 months while a buyer is found. Several services such as OB-GYN and Podiatry have been discontinued to save money while the hospital searches for a buyer. A group headed by Lebanese born businessman Sam Merhi is attempting to raise $35 million in order to pruchase the facility and convert it into a multi-use specialty hospital. The deadline date for purchasing the facility is November 20, 2007.