US Hospitals File Antitrust Suit Against RWJ Barnabas Health

Several northern New Jersey Hospitals filed a complaint in the District of New Jersey against RWJ Barnabas Health alleging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act and the New Jersey Antitrust Act.

The plaintiffs include CarePoint Health Management Associates, Carepoint Health – Christ Hospital, CarePoint Health – Bayonne Medical Center and CarePoint Health – Hoboken University Medical Center which are affiliated through overlapping ownership of entities and trust associated with their founders. 
The complaint states that although the three hospitals are operated by CarePoint Health Management Associates, the hospitals are independent competitors providing medical care which benefits Hudson County, New Jersey.

The plaintiffs allege that RWJ, along with its co-conspirators, has for years attempted to systematically destroy competition and to monopolize the provision of general acute care hospital services and related health care services in northern New Jersey. 
The complaint purports that RWJ’s goal was to force the plaintiffs into insolvency and acquire Hoboken University Medical Center and shutdown the remaining plaintiff hospitals. The plaintiffs argue that RWJ’s goal disregards the needs of the poor, underinsured and charity care patients which CarePoint serves in its role as the safety net hospital system in Jersey City.

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