The New Jersey Hospital Association Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to support S-3299/A-4903, a bill that would establish a community service contribution for New Jersey’s not-for-profit hospitals to provide to their host municipalities.

New Jersey hospitals have long supported their communities beyond traditional healthcare services. Their added annual community benefit activities total $2.4 billion – not to mention the jobs and other economic contributions that hospitals bring to their communities. We believe that Sen. Sweeney’s bill is an extension of the very important relationship that exists between a hospital and its host municipality, and we applaud him along with Sens. Singer and Vitale for their efforts.

Clearly, the Morristown tax court decision had created a great deal of uncertainty, for hospitals and municipalities alike. Our goal was to support a statewide solution that would strike a fair balance between hospitals and municipalities and allow them to carry on together in their shared goal of community health, safety and well-being.

We are also very pleased that the measure today addresses some important concerns for hospitals – including an exemption for financially challenged hospitals, a clarification that only acute care hospital beds will be used in determining the community contribution and language that addresses the uncertainty of retroactive hospital tax bills based on “omitted assessments” from prior years.