For-profit chain Prime Healthcare announced the $62 million purchase is final after a three-year process.
NEWARK -- Most of the 1,357 employees at St. Michael's Medical Center will keep their jobs, now that the sale of the hospital to a for-profit healthcare chain has been finalized.
Prime Healthcare's $62 million purchase of the 149-year-old Newark hospital preserved all but 29 of the jobs at the medical center, nearly have of which were in management, the company said.
The hospital's new owner has reached agreements with the three largest unions representing employees at the hospital, and all three have ratified new contracts, a Prime spokesman confirmed. He declined to detail specifics of the agreements with JNESO District Council 1, District 1199J (National Union of Hospital and Health Care Workers) and the Operating Engineers Local 68, which together represent 780 of the hospital's employees.
"I am pleased that we have been able to reach agreement...that provides for continuation of our health, pension and training fund benefits as well maintaining many other hard fought gains that we have achieved over the past 40 plus years," Sue Cleary, president of 1199J, said in a statement.
Drew Alban, shop steward for Operating Engineers Local 68, added that his union was "happy... glad we're staying open and we're glad we joined together to ensure (that Prime) acquired Saint Michael's."
The finalized sale is three years in the making. St. Michael's, millions of dollars in debt, put itself up for sale in 2012. Prime's bid to buy it survived several price changes, a slew of state approvals, and a report recommending that the hospital be closed. The report sparked an outcry from local lawmakers and residents, who supported the sale to keep jobs and healthcare options open in the city.
Robert Iannaccone has been appointed CEO. (Courtesy Prime Healthcare)"There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Prime Healthcare has saved Saint Michael's, along with nearly 1,400 jobs that we could not afford to lose in this city," Newark Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins said in a release about the purchase.
"Instead of an empty hospital building, we will continue to have a thriving hospital in the heart of the Central Ward."
As part of its bid to buy the hospital, Prime agreed to keep the facility operating as a hospital for at least five years, and will invest $50 million worth of technology and new services to modernize it. Prime owns 43 other healthcare centers in 14 states across the country.
"We believe that every community deserves exceptional healthcare close to home," the company's CEO Dr. Prem Reddy said in a release. "Prime Healthcare hospitals are consistently ranked among the best hospitals in the nation, and we have no doubt that Saint Michael's Medical Center will continue that legacy."
In its announcement about the deal being complete, Prime also revealed its choice for a new CEO, Robert Iannaccone, who previously worked as senior vice president of Cardiovascular Services at Barnabas Health. Iannaccone, a councilman in Morristown, called the job "an honor and a privilege."
"I look forward to working with our employees and medical staff as we begin a new chapter in Saint Michael's that builds upon our mission of providing quality healthcare to the community."
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.