A front page article in the 1/24 Atlantic City Press presents good signs for our local hospital.
Lawyer: Kessler close on deals Merger proposal received, 3 more likely, Ciardi says By TIMOTHY PUKO Staff Writer, (609) 272-7275 (Published: January 24, 2007) CAMDEN — Kessler Memorial Hospital recently received one merger offer and officials expect three more to follow soon, a hospital lawyer told a bankruptcy court judge at a Tuesday afternoon conference.
Since late last spring, officials at the Hammonton hospital have been searching for a merger partner to save the facility from more than $13 million of debt. The hospital filed for bankruptcy in September after getting rejected by South Jersey Healthcare during preliminary affiliation talks.
Kessler officials have tried to use financial reorganization to make the hospital a more attractive asset. In recent months officials sent packages marketing the hospital to nine suitors, said the hospital's Philadelphia-based bankruptcy attorney, Albert A. Ciardi III.
They also are close to a financing agreement that would bring needed cash flow to Kessler.
“We don't need it on a next-day basis, but we do want to get it done fairly quickly,” Ciardi said Tuesday at a status conference with Judge Judith H. Wizmur of U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Kessler CEO Michael J. Gonnella said there could be an announcement about the financing deal by next Friday, but declined further comment because of ongoing negotiations. He and Ciardi also declined to comment on specifics of any affiliation talks, noting confidentially agreements.
Ciardi said one affiliation offer already has been received, while officials thought another offer could be finalized by Tuesday evening. Two other partners were evaluating financing options and expected to submit offers soon.
Creditors are “cautiously optimistic” about the proposals, said Carol Ann Slocum, attorney for the creditor committee. The hospital already has gone through one round of unsuccessful negotiations, rejected by two of three potential partners it shortlisted at the end of last summer.
South Jersey Healthcare's board voted unanimously to end its affiliation talks with Kessler in September, just three weeks into an evaluation period that was supposed to last three months. Camden-based Lourdes Health System already had dismissed a possible affiliation before those talks began, a Lourdes spokeswoman said in August.
At times since the summer, patients have filled only about one-third of the 130-bed hospital, Ciardi has said. At other times the hospital has neared 50 percent occupancy, and Gonnella said Tuesday the hospital has hovered around that number since before Christmas.
“I believe those positive statistics should reflect a positive upturn in the finances of the hospital,” Gonnella said.
Money, however, is still tight at the facility, Slocum said. Kessler officials hope to remedy that by reaching a deal with CIT Healthcare, a New York-based financing company. Officials chose CIT over two other companies because of better rates and terms, Ciardi told the judge.
Ciardi said earlier this month that the hospital has been able to cover all its expenses and salaries since filing for bankruptcy. Two creditors, including the largest, Susquehanna Patriot Bank, have since disputed that claim.
Susquehanna's lawyer filed a motion claiming Kessler has failed to make any payments since filing for bankruptcy. The hospital leases medical equipment from Susquehanna, according to the motion, and has failed to make more than $100,000 in payments since the September filing.
Atlantic City Electric also claims the hospital is behind on its electric bills by more than $60,000.
The judge has scheduled a hearing for those complaints on Feb. 13 at 2 p.m.
To e-mail Timothy Puko at The Press:
TPuko@pressofac.com
Things are looking up. Let's hope one of these deals comes through and saves our hospital.
Thank god Mayor DiDonato stepped in and took the bull by the horns. He, along with several long-time staff members of the hospital, have really done an outstanding job in rallying everyone together to support our hospital.
I am a democrat, but I really admire and respect Mayor DiDonato and Hammonton First, especially what they've done for the hospital. None of those dirty republicans have even lifted a finger to try to help, except for Anthony Marino-he seems like he's trying.
Bertino and Vitalo are lazy losers, filled with BS. They stink!
Thank goodness for Chat with the Mayor and all the work the Mayor has done. That young man has done more to help this town than generations of the old school politicians. His leadership to save the hospital came just when it was needed. Now I hope the school board listens to him so they can turn that situation around.
Why did Jim MacLane attack the mayor and complain that there was nothing going on? Even Rich Jacobus, who we all know is crazy, had to admit in the Hammonton News that the mayor was leading the save the hospital effort.
I did not attack the Mayor. All I said was there was nothing new presented at that time. That's because there was nothing new to present. Since then some things have happened and now there is something to talk about. All I was pointing out was that a lot of people were looking for answers during the Mayor's chat and got none. Now we, apparently, have some interest in the hospital, but we still have never been told how we got into this situation and who is being held responsible.
Why do you people contantly bash the Mayor? Why are you always so negative? He did a wonderful job at the hospital. He saved it. When you organizations had your chance to do something positve at the many other places we no longer have, such as Whitehall, you did nothing. He rolled up his sleeves, stuck his neck out and worked to fix things at the hospital.
Without John DiDonato the hospital woul have died. Your own union members would be without jobs.
You threaten you will never vote for him again? None of us ever will. When he was first elected, he told everyone he would fix as much as possible during his term and then retire from public life. He isn't looking for political power like you. He is looking to help. You don''t even understand what that means.
You can keep bashing but now people realize after this election they made a mistake. This kid went thru his election promises like a to-do list and is doing every one. It is unheard of in politics. It is a job every Hammontonian will be happy about for years.
No, none of us will ever walk into a poll booth and be given the oppty to vote for John DiDonato again. And it is a shame. The town is a better place because he is the Mayor.
Anonymous wrote:You threaten you will never vote for him again? None of us ever will. When he was first elected, he told everyone he would fix as much as possible during his term and then retire from public life. He isn't looking for political power like you. He is looking to help. You don''t even understand what that means. ... ... No, none of us will ever walk into a poll booth and be given the oppty to vote for John DiDonato again. And it is a shame. The town is a better place because he is the Mayor.
You made a good point. Why would DiDonato run for office again when he's already spent millions of the town's tax dollars to benefit his own companies?
Let's see, he's bought at least FIVE properties on Main Street. Now how has he benefitted from being mayor?
-redid the roads around his property -gave himself a new town hall -selling his parking lots back to the town so they are paved for free -redoing the sidewalks in front of his businesses -forced police to walk the beat in front of his businesses.
So you say, "So what he owns a building downtown! Big deal."
Well, let's count the buildings: -the old K&H -the Kessler Thrift Store -the Karate place -Kelly Tires
So you say, "So what, he owns four stores, what's that got to do with Hammonton First?"
What about Hammonton First's biggest campaign financer. He owns: -Trina's -the law office next door -the stationary store(formerly Tapper's)
So you say, "so what, that's just seven businesses, and six buildings, what's the big deal?"
Well, then there's the one piece of work Hammonton First has done that's not downtown. It's the the insurance company going in uptown. Sure, the Mayor has thrown all sorts of incentives to bring this giant company in. He's so sure its going to be a success, the Mayor has sped up his latest shopping center project right around the corner! How convenient!
So you say, "So what, so he's taken advantage of being the Mayor, and is simply trying to make the most money he possibly can while in office."
Well, if that doesn't bother you, I don't know what does.
To think I used to think the Republicans were bad news.
1. Mayor DiDonato REDUCED town government spending. This cleaned up a $400,000 deficit he was handed and provided a no tax increase in 2006.
2. Mayor DiDonato kept your taxes from skyrocketing 22.9 cents in 2006 at the school. Now the plan he put together is truly turning around that institution after years of financial bad news.
3. Mayor DiDonato is saving the hospital.
4. Mayor DiDonato formed a committee to work on the problems at Tuckahoe Turf Farm, which is as far northwest as you can go in Hammonton.
5. Mayor DiDonato is working on completing the Boyer Ave fields, which is as far as you can go in Hammonton to the east.
6. The downtown sidewalks were slated for years to be done with grant money. For years Town Council never ever worked on them. Mayor DiDonato got the job done. Egg Harbor Road, Central Ave, Horton Street, and Pleasant Street all fall into the same catagory. Grant money that would have been lost to our town if he did nothing.
7. The Mayor said during his campaign he would fix downtown one building at a time with his own money. He is.
8. The Mayor told everyone during his election campaign he would build town hall at Central and Vine. After seven years of inaction, he has already broken ground.
9. For years, nothing was done to fix the Hammonton Lake. The opposition whined for political gain, but nothing was done. A system is now being put in place to clean the lake up.
Who has been hurt? Up until Hammonton First came into office, town councilmen were paid $7,000 plus received medical insurance worth $18,000 per year. That was a $25,000 bill to the taxpayers PER COUNCILPERSON. Hammonton First voted that no councilperson would take then money or the insurance to help balance the budget. THAT IS WHAT THIS BASHING IS ABOUT. PEOPLE ARE MAD THAT THEIR GRAVY TRAIN IS OVER.
1. Prince D REDUCED town services that we all came to know and love. He also froze all road construction projects and took credit for projects the republicans began
2. Prince D wasted taxpayer money to purchase land the taxpayers already owned. That turned out to be a one shot deal that will only hurt the school next year.
3. Prince D, draped in his Hammonton First banner, pranced all over town with those gay signs. He even "Chatted" about the hospital. However, he DID NOTHING to assist the hospital. The hospital would still have these potential "partners" even if Prince D and his Merry Men did nothing.
4. What results did that committee yeild????
5. No matter what administration was in office, it would be their duty and obligation to cash in on these grants. He did nothing anyone else would have done in that situation.
6. What progress has been made on Boyer Ave?
7. He is fixing them up one at a time with his own money. He should. He owns them!!!! I have to fix my house with my own money.
8. He broke ground after a criminal coverup of asbestos, an illegal breaking apart of bids, and nepotism. Both Prince D and Rock belong in jail. He is also way over budget, before the groundbreaking took place!!!
9. You had a system last year to clean the lake and you sat on your hands. That cost Spercino her seat. Too little too late with that project.
Who has been hurt??? The Hammonton working class has been hurt. The school children has been hurt. The town workers exposed to the asbestos has been hurt. The Police and Fire departments have been hurt. The highway department workers have been hurt. HAMMONTON HAS BEEN HURT.
The Democratic Party has always stood for equality and respected the rights of all people.
Shoulda Voted Democrat, you are an embarrassment to the party. Please refrain from calling yourself a Democrat. You definately are a bigot.
Party Club leader Jim MacLane congratulated the Mayor and the others who brought the hospital to this point of recovery. As Hammontonians, we all want to see the hospital survive. As Democrats, we all want to protect the union jobs there. As keepers of the great Party of Jefferson, we cannot condone your horrible slur towards others.
You Firsters haven't been able to hide your desperation. Now you have to call Democrats bigots??? How desperate are you???? Well, I guess, you finally realize that your party is going extinct!!! Oh well, it was good while it lasted. At least you guys got your town hall and your sidewalks.
What does any of the above have to do with the Hospital? What do you people want to just bash Hammonton First? Get over it. It is nice to see all the work Mayor DiDonato and others put in to saving out hospital. Be happy it happened for all our sakes.
The Mayor, and others, have put in a lot of time and effort in trying to keep a hospital here in Hammonton. I applaud the Mayor for all the work he has done. Hopefully this all plays out so that we end up with an institution that will be here in Hammonton for many years to come. Good job Mayor and all those who also put in time and effort, but don’t stop now, it’s still just a glimmer of hope. A lot of work still has to be done.
Yes, It is well put. Jim reconizes that the hospital is not saved yet, and we still have some work to do. As he put it, "Its still just a glimmer of hope."
I think the celebrating should wait until we know for sure.
Anonymous wrote:1. Mayor DiDonato REDUCED town government spending. This cleaned up a $400,000 deficit he was handed and provided a no tax increase in 2006. RESULT: More LIEs, LIEs inn our Town Gov't, You Know there was a surplus.
2. Mayor DiDonato kept your taxes from skyrocketing 22.9 cents in 2006 at the school. Now the plan he put together is truly turning around that institution after years of financial bad news. RESULT: It hurt the schools even more.
3. Mayor DiDonato is saving the hospital. The people of Hammonton are saving the hospital. The only way the mayor can save the hospital is if he BUYS it.
4. Mayor DiDonato formed a committee to work on the problems at Tuckahoe Turf Farm, which is as far northwest as you can go in Hammonton. RESULT: We are all screwed. The committee never met.
5. Mayor DiDonato is working on completing the Boyer Ave fields, which is as far as you can go in Hammonton to the east. RESULT: More Gov't Waste.
6. The downtown sidewalks were slated for years to be done with grant money. For years Town Council never ever worked on them. Mayor DiDonato got the job done. Egg Harbor Road, Central Ave, Horton Street, and Pleasant Street all fall into the same catagory. Grant money that would have been lost to our town if he did nothing. RESULT: WE know who really stalled the sidewalk work.
7. The Mayor said during his campaign he would fix downtown one building at a time with his own money. He is. RESULT: He's buying them and his puppetmaster as well.
8. The Mayor told everyone during his election campaign he would build town hall at Central and Vine. After seven years of inaction, he has already broken ground. RESULT: The only thing that has been broken is our community.
9. For years, nothing was done to fix the Hammonton Lake. The opposition whined for political gain, but nothing was done. A system is now being put in place to clean the lake up. RESULT: HF in March voted NO, NO, NO, NO on cleaning the lake. This cost one of their party members the election.
Who has been hurt? Up until Hammonton First came into office, town councilmen were paid $7,000 plus received medical insurance worth $18,000 per year. That was a $25,000 bill to the taxpayers PER COUNCILPERSON. Hammonton First voted that no councilperson would take then money or the insurance to help balance the budget. THAT IS WHAT THIS BASHING IS ABOUT. PEOPLE ARE MAD THAT THEIR GRAVY TRAIN IS OVER. RESULT: Many Firsters are "Riding the Wave" and making thousands and possibly soon millions because they are only concerned with 1 square mile of Hammonton and not the other 41.
HF likes to pat themselves on the back for what the People of Hammonton are doing or have done. HF has done nothing but further divide the town. They think they are above the law. Even the fact that they refuse to disclose who much they spent on their failed campaign shows they are not truly about OPEN GOVERNMENT. HF is just a front for the Rich Elite in Hammonton. Many volunteers like myself have been duped. I'm now going to burn my Kessler sign. I've been so used for political gain.
The Mayor, and others, have put in a lot of time and effort in trying to keep a hospital here in Hammonton. I applaud the Mayor for all the work he has done. Hopefully this all plays out so that we end up with an institution that will be here in Hammonton for many years to come. Good job Mayor and all those who also put in time and effort, but don’t stop now, it’s still just a glimmer of hope. A lot of work still has to be done.
It is well put.
Jim MacLane has made many great statements. Are you know going to quote his other concerns about town. I think ALL his statements are WELL PUT.
We all want to see the hospital remain in town. The only thing we are saying is that there is more work to do. It is too early to celebrate. The hospital is not saved yet.
You and the mayor are patting yourselves on the back for nothing.
Boy you must be a real joy if you are a parent. Imagine your kids coming home with straight A's on their report card. You tell them. Hey, moron, I am not bashing. You have more work to do, you haven't graduated.
Would you tell your child to stop trying after receiving an "A" on their first quiz of the semester? I would hope not. A responsible parent would say, "Good job, you are on the right track. Keep it up, it's a long semester. You can't give up now."
That is exactly what Jim and the rest of us are saying. The job is not over. You didn't get straight A's yet. You didn't even pass the course.
I don't understand what you are talking about. The mayor didn't save the hospital.
He did address some issues. He "Chatted" about the hospital. Someone had signs made.
He did NOT save the hospital. If Kessler get taken over by AtlantiCare, for example, then AtlantiCare saved the hospital, not the mayor.
Why are you insisting on using the hospital as a political ploy? Is the mayor also taking credit for the unusally warm weather we had in December, too?
Anonymous wrote:Boy you must be a real joy if you are a parent. Imagine your kids coming home with straight A's on their report card. You tell them. Hey, moron, I am not bashing. You have more work to do, you haven't graduated.
Actually I would push my son to work harder and not be complacent. Look what happened to HF when they were complacent after patting themselves on the back for work done by others. Look at all the partying they did the last 2 weeks before the election. In the end the people gave them a failing grade. We'll see how they grade this year's council. There is so much more work to do. The town hall is just a hole in the ground and already HF is patting themselves on the back. HF is even patting themselves on the back after telling everyone to work together no matter what party affiliation. So far we have a D on town hall- I'm not too happy with all that has progressed with the asbestos situation and the bidding to family on projects and work with the town hall. I give an F on the lake, it could have been cleaned up already with a 100% guarantee. I give a big F on cleaning the streets and controlling flooding. For the trash, I give a C- to council for overburdening the Highway Department. Those guys there of course I give an A+. There are many things to grade in different areas. There's one area in my son's report card regarding behavior. The last council got a big F.
Getting back to the hospital, GOOD JOB to the Mayor and everyone else for getting the word out and promoting for other hospitals to look at buying Kessler.
There are 600 of our union brothers and ssters and we need to focus on saving as many of those jobs as possible. We cannot let the hospital die like Whitehall.
THANK YOU Mayor. Keep it going since there is more to do!
It looks like a lot of positive things happening at the hospital. More and more people are choosing Kessler. Patient count has doubled. The organization is looking better than it has in a long time.
Why did it take getting the Mayor involved and the Mayor doing some positive PR to turn things around. Why couldn't the administration and the board at the hospital figure out that they could have started this turn around themselves with some positive promotions. All the other hospitals do advertising and PR to spread a positive image of their institutions, Kessler sat back and was happy with their poor reputation. One Mazyor's chat did more for the hospital than the hospital did for itself for the last decade.
Getting rid of Mike Gonnella as its CEO....as I look back on the whole hospital scenario,was the best thing that could have happened. He mismanaged its staff. was a very weak leader and spent too much "personal" time with cretain "staffers"
