How Would BUY Muhlenberg Work?

I've received questions ....

How this would work?

BUY Muhlenberg is essentially a holding entity solely created to hold funds to only be used for the purchase of Muhlenberg. Any funds needed for professional and other costs would be raised separately. Whether the final entity that would purchase and manage Muhlenberg would be a for-profit (shares would stay in place) or non-profit (shares would convert to being a voting member, that's non-profit version of a share)... that would have to be determined.

While we are raising funds, a professional team is right now being put together --- people with the expertise to run a hospital or find those professionals (remember, about 20 hospitals in NJ have been closed ... some people running around without jobs), different individuals with professional skills. This is happening now. We are reaching out to individuals who are interested in this community, care about Muhlenberg and what it was originally created to do (provide top-notch health care irregardless of ability to pay), people who, like you and I, want to keep Muhlenberg open, and who are not looking to make a buck out of the process.

Who is involved?

The individuals who are this start-up's officers, who are 100% committed that funds raised go only to a purchase of the hospital are:

Olive Lynch, president
Rev. Ball, pastor of Rose of Sharon Church, vice-president
Steve Hatcher, POP, secretary
Nancy Piwowar, treasurer

A number of people are actively working on this (I'll get a list together later and post). We will be seeking out and inviting many other talented, skilled, and committed individuals to assist us in this mission. Hey, we are only 4 days old!

We plan to be completely transparent. I will post monies taken in, what issues we are facing, what decisions need to be made. We want everyone's feedback and input. If we put heart and minds together, we can creatively and effectively solve any problem.

For the state to take us seriously, while we capitalize BUY Muhlenberg, we will have to put together a team, a business plan, 5-year projections. Our goal is to get this done before the May 6 hearing, so the state will not grant Solaris' request for closure, because there is a valid buyer knocking at the door.

A team of people are gathering data, researching Muhlenberg's endowments, investigating interesting relationships between different parties, getting public domain documents related to Solaris (such as tax returns, incorporation papers. We're asking questions -- for example, what were the terms, if any, for dissolution and dispersal of assets of either JFK or Muhlenberg in the initial merger agreement, etc). Our goal is to provide facts, figures and penetrating questions of Solaris, for the state May 6 hearing.

What if Solaris won't sell Muhlenberg ... or they ask way, way too much money?

Solaris (from our intel) owes $18 million and they want $30 million for the Muhlenberg campus. No one in their right mind would assume their debt AND pay for the buildings. If we raise the funds and submit a reasonable offer, and it's rejected ... then, well, we'll build a brand new spanking state of the art hospital ... say in one of the designated redevelopment areas downtown. We definitely will demand Solaris hand over Muhlenberg's endowments (which belong to the COMMUNITY that created them, not Solaris, JFK, or Edison).

How about that for a powerful vision?

I'm sure everyone has been feeling victimized by this entire process. Solaris has had this closing planned for a long, long time. Big business doesn't do things on the spur of the moment. People in high positions have had to have known about this (like our Health Commissioner) and decided that they know what's best for us. It's enough to make people give up.

Well, I submit to you this is America ... the land where WE THE PEOPLE still rules. WE, together, can decide our fate. If we want a hospital to be here to serve this community and the surrounding communities, WE can make it happen. The white knight is not going to come riding into town to save us, and the barbarians are at the gate, raping our hospital, taking what has taken our community 131 years to build.

We, together, can save each other and ourselves.