Photo by Chris Sykes East Orange General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Otis Storey, seated center, smiles with members of the East Orange United Marching Band on Saturday, Oct. 15, during the East Orange General Hospital Come See Health Fair.
East Orange General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Otis Story, seated center, smiles with members of the East Orange United Marching Band on Saturday, Oct. 15, during the East Orange General Hospital Come See Health Fair.
EAST ORANGE, NJ — On Tuesday, March 1, 2016, Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. announced it had completed its acquisition of East Orange General Hospital and named Otis L. Story Sr. as its new president and chief executive officer.
On Saturday, Oct. 15, Story and his team cordoned off a portion of North Munn Avenue at the top of Central Avenue in the city and invited those in the community and surrounding municipalities to “Come See” what the “New East Orange General Hospital” has to offer.
“We have invited the community to come see what we’re doing, in terms of revitalizing this institution,” said Story on Saturday, Oct. 15. “‘Come See’ is a theme that we’re using to promote the new East Orange General Hospital. We want the people of East Orange and contiguous municipalities to come see what we’re doing. We have developed new programs, new services, we have recruited new physicians like Dr. Majid, a world renowned metabolic bariatric surgeon. We’re extremely excited about the programs and services that we’re bringing to this community today.”
Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. took over ownership of East Orange General Hospital after federal bankruptcy Judge Vincent F. Papalia approved the group’s bid Jan. 20, 2016. The state Department of Health and the state attorney general have also approved Prospect’s acquisition of East Orange General Hospital.
Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. has been recognized for its track record of working with urban “safety net” hospitals in communities similar to East Orange and is known for its expertise in many of the same services found at East Orange General Hospital, including primary care and behavioral health. The company has implemented its coordinated regional care model that emphasizes coordination of care and population health management, with an emphasis on wellness and preventive care at its other hospitals across the country.
According to Story, Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. is “committed to strengthening the existing programs that the East Orange and Essex County communities have come to rely on over so many years, and to introducing new services and a new delivery model designed to help meet residents’ future health care needs.”
“The company looks forward to the opportunity to help ensure the future of East Orange General Hospital as a vital community health care provider,” Story said. “Prospect has committed to provide in excess of $50 million in operational and capital investments at East Orange General Hospital over five years, as well as to maintain the hospital as an acute care facility, retain the hospital’s employee and physician base, provide working capital funding and assume all of East Orange General’s outstanding debt. The commitment also includes the establishment of a community health improvement initiative allowing the hospital’s foundation to work directly with patients, families, physicians and community leaders to promote wellness. The asset purchase agreement also calls for the creation of an advisory board, made up of current East Orange General trustees and other community leaders.”
Goldie Burbage, a member of the East Orange General Hospital Board of Directors, said she’s pleased the city’s largest private employer is still open, when so many other community hospitals in neighboring municipalities — such as Orange Memorial Hospital and Irvington General Hospital — have closed.
On Monday, Sept. 26, during an East Orange City Council meeting Burbage said, “I’m glad that the hospital is still open and ready, willing and able to serve the city and the community,” and added that the East Orange General Hospital has been serving the local community for more than a century.
Story and Gary Myles, a member of the new East Orange General Hospital team, said the local institution recently expanded its services and is adding new equipment and programs to provide the highest level of quality and compassionate patient care. Specialty areas include: same-day surgery, physical rehabilitation, behavioral health, family health, emergency medicine, outpatient hemodialysis, wound management, and vascular and surgical services.
“We’re going to be pouring in over $84 million into the hospital and you’re going to be seeing a lot of new upgrades and all that so technology is going to work hand in hand with that them not only with that but with wellness as well,” Myles said Saturday, Dec. 17. “Health and wellness is going to be combined with education, so that not only will we have educated kids, but we’ll have healthy and strong-minded kids as well. It’s a broad scope right now and, hopefully, they will take advantage of it. We thank all of those that come into our community and pour into our kids, because it’s very important that they have positive role models, especially today.”
Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. is a health care services company that offers coordinated regional care, which emphasizes coordination of care with an emphasis on wellness and preventive care. Prospect operates 14 hospitals and manages the provision of health care services for approximately 257,000 members enrolled in its networks of more than 8,900 primary care physicians and specialists in California, Texas, Rhode Island and New Jersey.
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