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		<title><![CDATA[Bribes, Payoffs, and Politics]]></title>
		<link>http://www.edmecka.com/categories/bribes-payoffs-and-politics.html</link>
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		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:23:58 EST</lastBuildDate>
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			<title><![CDATA[Jersey Shore’s Hoboken filming request denied, Mayor Zimmer says informal "verbal agreements" were made involving payments to individuals for"unauthorized filming"]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/jersey-shore’s-hoboken-filming-request-denied-mayor-zimmer-says-informal-verbal-agreements-were-made-involving-payments-to-individuals-forunauthorized-filming.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer advised the "Jersey Shore” production company that their request for a Hoboken filming permit has been denied.  Zimmer wrote;</p>&#13;
<p style="padding-left: 90px;">“After careful deliberation, the members of the Film Commission, including representatives from Health &amp; Human Services, Environmental Services, and the Administration, with input from our public safety officials, have determined that in the interest of public safety and quality of life, the permit application for 495 Productions/MTV's production of the Jersey Shore spin-off has been denied.”</p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (Ed Mecka)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:46:49 EST</lastBuildDate>
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			<title><![CDATA[Ex-head of Hoboken Parking Utility admits guilt in $600G theft of meter funds, Toms River contractor previously pleaded guilty to theft]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/ex-head-of-hoboken-parking-utility-admits-guilt-in-600g-theft-of-meter-funds-toms-river-contractor-previously-pleaded-guilty-to-theft.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>The former head of the Hoboken Parking Utility is facing eight years in prison after appearing in Superior Court on Friday to admit his role in the theft of $600,000 from that city’s parking meters.</p>&#13;
<p>John P. Corea pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Francis R. Hodgson Jr. to official misconduct, a second-degree crime carrying a potential prison term of 10 years.</p>&#13;
<p>In entering his guilty plea, Corea, 45, a Hoboken resident, admitted steering three no-bid contracts to United Textile Fabricators, an arcade game manufacturer headed by a Toms River man, to collect and count coins from Hoboken’s parking meters.</p>&#13;
<p>Corea told the judge he made false statements to the Hoboken City Council about the company’s qualifications, and that he came to believe that the head of the company, Brian A. Petaccio, 51, of Toms River, had stolen a substantial amount of the city’s parking revenues.</p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (News Media)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:43:20 EST</lastBuildDate>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.edmecka.com/articles/ex-head-of-hoboken-parking-utility-admits-guilt-in-600g-theft-of-meter-funds-toms-river-contractor-previously-pleaded-guilty-to-theft.html</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Hoboken resident one of Fourteen new jersey health care providers arrested, charged with taking cash payments for patient referrals]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/hoboken-resident-one-of-fourteen-new-jersey-health-care-providers-arrested-charged-with-taking-cash-payments-for-patient-referrals.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>A Hoboken resident is one of Thirteen New Jersey doctors and a nurse practitioner charged in a cash-for tests referral scheme for allegedly taking illegal kickback payments to refer patients to an Orange, N.J., medical testing facility, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Special Agent in Charge Tom O’Donnell announced.</p>&#13;
<p>This morning, more than 65 federal and local agents and officers led by HHS-OIG arrested the 14 health care practitioners, to whom radiology and diagnostic facility Orange Community MRI (“OCM”) allegedly paid monthly cash kickback payments in exchange for their referral of Medicare and Medicaid patients to OCM for testing services.</p>&#13;
<p>The defendants arrested this morning are scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court. OCM’s executive director, Chirag Patel, 36, of Warren, N.J., was arrested on Dec. 8, 2011, in connection with the scheme. He appeared that day before Judge Arleo and was released on a $750,000 bond.</p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (Ed Mecka, Federal Bureau of Investigation)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:00:55 EST</lastBuildDate>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.edmecka.com/articles/hoboken-resident-one-of-fourteen-new-jersey-health-care-providers-arrested-charged-with-taking-cash-payments-for-patient-referrals.html</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Helen Hirsch: City’s lack of transparency leaves questions]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/helen-hirsch-city’s-lack-of-transparency-leaves-questions.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Mayor Zimmer who, with promises of reform, has waved the banner of openness and integrity, has used every technique and opacity of secrecy in the book to hide the facts concerning the choice of the owners of the Bayonne University Medical Center as the only possible candidates as purchasers of HUMC.</p>&#13;
<p>When she became involved in the Hoboken Hospital Authority she did nothing to pull the raps of the organization which was established to outwit the legal requirements of a public body to make operations open to the public. She continues this code of secrecy to this day.</p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (Hoboken Reporter)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:58:15 EDT</lastBuildDate>
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			<title><![CDATA[Hoboken University Medical Center Nurse’s Union JNESO Files Objection in Hudson Healthcare Inc Bankruptcy]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/hoboken-university-medical-center-nurse’s-union-jneso-files-objection-in-hudson-healthcare-inc-bankruptcy.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>JNESO, District Council 1, IUOE, AFL-CIO (“JNESO”) , the union representing nurses at Hoboken University Medical Center, filed an Objection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to the two (2) Motions filed by the Debtor,  Hudson Healthcare, Inc. (the “Hudson”)</p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (Ed Mecka)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:06:05 EDT</lastBuildDate>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.edmecka.com/articles/hoboken-university-medical-center-nurse’s-union-jneso-files-objection-in-hudson-healthcare-inc-bankruptcy.html</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Hoboken Reporter: Company that wants to buy Hoboken's hospital says mayor 'misrepresented' them by releasing outdated proposal to the public]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/hoboken-reporter-company-that-wants-to-buy-hobokens-hospital-says-mayor-misrepresented-them-by-releasing-outdated-proposal-to-the-public.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-size: small;">As the city of Hoboken works out a bankruptcy agreement for Hoboken University Medical Center so that they may sell it to a private company called HUMC Holdco, Mayor Dawn Zimmer's detractors have said that other bidders have given proposals to buy the hospital, and that perhaps they should have been considered.</span></p>&#13;
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Yesterday, Mayor Dawn Zimmer released a response, saying that two of the proposals - from Jersey City Medical Center, and from a company called P3 - were not as good as the current bid from HUMC Holdco, for a variety of reasons.</span></p>&#13;
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Those proposals are posted on the city website.</span></p>&#13;
<p><span style="font-size: small;">When contacted by the Reporter, Jersey City Medical Center declined to comment. But P3 offered a comment late on Thursday afternoon.</span></p>&#13;
<p><span style="font-size: small;">They said that the proposal that Zimmer posted was outdated, and that unlike Holdco, they would run the facility as a nonprofit and keep it for health care "in perpetuity." Holdco has given a guarantee for seven years.</span></p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (Hoboken Reporter)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:27:41 EDT</lastBuildDate>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.edmecka.com/articles/hoboken-reporter-company-that-wants-to-buy-hobokens-hospital-says-mayor-misrepresented-them-by-releasing-outdated-proposal-to-the-public.html</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[For-profit hospitals discussed in Trenton, Hearing draws testimony from Meadowlands CEO; Hoboken head absent]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/for-profit-hospitals-discussed-in-trenton-hearing-draws-testimony-from-meadowlands-ceo-hoboken-head-absent.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p>Hudson County hospitals were front and center at a state Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Senate subcommittee meeting on Monday that focused on for-profit hospitals in New Jersey.</p>&#13;
<p>The hearing came just days after allegations of bankruptcy fraud were made against Hoboken University Medical Center (HUMC), and on the same day it was reported in The Star Ledger that Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus charges up to 3,000 percent higher for certain procedures by using a loophole in the medical system.</p>&#13;
<p>In Hudson County and across the country, failing hospitals are being bought by companies that try to turn a profit at these formerly non-profit institutions. But some worry that patient care will suffer as a result.</p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (News Media)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:27:30 EDT</lastBuildDate>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.edmecka.com/articles/for-profit-hospitals-discussed-in-trenton-hearing-draws-testimony-from-meadowlands-ceo-hoboken-head-absent.html</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[N.J. lawmakers seek to strengthen law requiring attorney general to oversee transfer of non-profit hospitals]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/nj-lawmakers-seek-to-strengthen-law-requiring-attorney-general-to-oversee-transfer-of-non-profit-hospitals.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-size: small;">Two key Democratic lawmakers are planning to strengthen a law that requires the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to oversee the transfer of non-profit hospitals.</span></p>&#13;
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>The move comes after the proposed sale of the Hoboken University Medical Center escaped the stringent review by successfully arguing that its status as a city-run hospital exempts it from the Community Healthcare Assets Protection Act, or CHOPA.</strong></em></span></span></p>&#13;
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Under the law, the attorney general’s reviews all aspects of the sale of non-profit hospital, including whether the seller is getting fair market value, ensuring conflicts of interest are disclosed, the bidding process is fair and a host of items designed to protect the public. A superior court judge must also give their final opinion on the sale.</span></p>&#13;
<p><span style="font-size: small;">One of the major criticisms of the Hoboken sale has been the lack of transparency. Among other items, the public has yet to see the applications of the other bidders beside the successful one — the ownership group of the Bayonne Medical Center. Council members were just provided the financial statements of the hospital Wednesday.</span></p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (News Media)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:24:16 EDT</lastBuildDate>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.edmecka.com/articles/nj-lawmakers-seek-to-strengthen-law-requiring-attorney-general-to-oversee-transfer-of-non-profit-hospitals.html</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority Approves $2.5M loan to Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/new-jersey-health-care-facilities-financing-authority-approves-25m-loan-to-hoboken-municipal-hospital-authority.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-size: small;">The Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority has requested a $2.5 million loan from the Authority to fund the continued operations of the Hoboken University Medical Center (“HUMC”), which is currently owned by HMHA, until the planned sale of HUMC to a company known as HUMC Holdco can be completed. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of September 2011. The loan will be secured by a subordinated pledge of the Revenues of HMHA, including an $11 million State appropriation to HMHA, which will not be available to HMHA until the sale is closed. The loan will be made from the Authority’s fund balance, which is currently over $4 million.</span></p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (Ed Mecka)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:10:30 EDT</lastBuildDate>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.edmecka.com/articles/new-jersey-health-care-facilities-financing-authority-approves-25m-loan-to-hoboken-municipal-hospital-authority.html</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Nurses union JNESO District Council 1 subpoena's documents from Official Committee of Secured Creditors in Hoboken hospital bankruptcy]]></title>
			<link>http://www.edmecka.com/articles/nurses-union-jneso-district-council-1-subpoenas-documents-from-official-committee-of-secured-creditors-in-hoboken-hospital-bankruptcy.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-size: small;">On Saturday, September 24, 2011, JNESO District Council 1, a union representing several hundred nurses employed by the Hudson Healthcare, Inc. Debtor at the Hoboken University Medical Center, issued a subpoena to Sills Cummis &amp; Gross P.C., counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of the Debtor.</span></p>&#13;
<p><span style="font-size: small;">JNESO is seeking copies of all deposition transcripts in the Bankruptcy Case and  all documents produced to the Committee by the Debtor, the Authority, the proposed purchaser of the Hospital, or the City of Hoboken.</span></p>]]></description>
			<author>no@spam.com (Ed Mecka)</author>
			<lastBuildDate>Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:58:14 EDT</lastBuildDate>
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