Ramos Tried to Sink Hospital Sale

Ruben MIA:  no "Hospital Saver" Ruben Ramos at the HUMC ribbon cutting on December 1, 2011


"Saving St. Mary's Hospital is something I'm really proud of."
-Ruben Ramos, Vision For Hoboken Campaign Video- May 19, 2013


And that, folks, is the kind of revisionist history that tells you Ruben Ramos has chosen to run a fundamentally dishonest campaign.

Ramos' message that he "saved St. Mary's Hospital" is aimed at voters who either slept through the hospital sale process or believe the Hoboken University Medical Center still goes by the name "St. Mary's".

If you slept through the hospital sale, here's some background.

It began in in the summer of 2010 when the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority (HMHA) sent out nearly 200 Requests for Proposals to sell the public hospital to a private entity.  Some may recall how our hospital was bleeding cash on the order of millions of dollars annually and that the $52 million dollar bond used to purchase the hospital was near due:  tick tock, tick tock.  Without a buyer to retire out $52 million debt, Hoboken taxpayers would have been forced to pony up $52,000,000 in a SINGLE TAX YEAR. 

So... when the HMHA sent out 200 RFPs to purchase the hospital (and Hoboken's debt) what do you think happened?   Did bidders line up to buy our bleeding asset? 

NO.

Out of 200 RFPs, the HMHA got 8 bids (4%).  Only ONE of the 8 was viable; the bidder had financing to buy the hospital outright.  That was HoldCo.   

Enter the politicians: Beth Mason, Mike Russo, Tim Occhipinti, Terry Castellano and Ruben Ramos.  

These politicians swung brick bats at the volunteer, unpaid members of the HUMC, at the Buyer, HoldCo and at Mayor Zimmer in an effort to STOP the sale of the hospital.  The HMHA's Toni Tomarrazo, a lawyer who donated 35 hours a week to the hospital sale on top of her full-time job was brutalized on Mason's Hoboken411.  Mason actively rooted for the demise of the HoldCo sale on Hoboken411, declaring the HUMC "DOA" and paid for a cable tv media campaign trashing the sale.

No one tried HARDER to kill the hospital sale than Beth Mason.


And WHO stood by Nurse Kevorkian's side?
Ruben Ramos.
  • Ramos OPPOSED  the $5 Million cash infusion to creditors needed to settle a mountain of debt with the hospital. 
  • Ramos SUPPORTED the Mason Council minority's 'NO' vote which killed the $5M bond resolution, with it the ability to sell the hospital. 
  • Ramos ISSUED this statement on September 22, 2011, the day after the $5 Million bond was voted down (he called Mason & Co. "courageous"):
I particularly commend Councilpersons Mason, Russo, Castellano, and Occhipinti for their courageous vote last night. By voting against the Administration’s efforts to extort more money from the Hoboken taxpayers to further fund the Mayor’s incompetent and flawed attempt sell HUMC, the Council minority made clear that it is unwilling to be a party to backroom dealings conducted without the benefit of meaningful public input.

Let’s not forget that Mayor Zimmer is a member of the Municipal Hospital Authority Board. She also appoints all the members to the board, as well as the Chief Operating Officer. Zimmer has also repeatedly stated that the Council has no role in the sale of hospital – that was until she needed $5 million of taxpayer money to bail her out of a deal that she and the buyers were completely inept at completing.
So, Ruben stood tall with those who voted down every City Council resolution to keep the hospital operations afloat.

Ruben stood tall with Beth Mason as she and the Council minority tried at every turn to KILL the sale of the hospital and bankrupt Hoboken.

Ruben politicized the sale of the hospital; opposing it when it was politically expedient and  now running on it's successful sale.

Now Ramos is trying to steal credit from the true heroes of the hospital sale:   Mayor Zimmer, Toni Tomarazzo,  and the HMHA.



GA Note: Ray Smith wrote an excellent recap of the HUMC sale called  "How the Deal Went Down". 

Comments

  1. how, pray tell, is he claiming to have saved the hospital? wow, this guy's got NO integrity or morals.

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    1. If he only took credit for the stuff in this town he actually had a hand in doing, nobody would vote for him in a million years so it isn't surprising he tries to take credit for the good work of others.

      Watch him next complain about legal expenses including the $700K or so we spent on selling a bankrupt hospital where he supported those who tried to sabotage the sale and stick Hoboken w/ tens of millions in expenses, bonds and claims to pay off.

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  2. Watching that video clip from the campaign site I am struck with just how glibly and easily he LIES as he proudly takes credit for saving the hospital, citing his efforts at "saving" the hospital as an example of his ability to get people to work together. Are you fucking kidding me??????? He was tap dancing on its grave!!!!!! Please have Dr Shrill give us her take on this mess. There has to be some kind of personality disorder here - first we have him telling us that no law will prevent him from taking a bribe and now this?? Great catch, GA. Do these other chowder heads running with him understand what a big fat lie this video is? Do all four think we are fucking stupid? Or are they just unfathomably arrogant? Someone needs to ask the three henchmen just how Ruben "saved" the hospital. I would love to hear the details or explanation.

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    1. What is truly disgusting is the people who glibly support the man know he likes. And they hate Zimmer b/c she doesn't. I almost want there to be a requirement that all of these people who run for office be hooked up to a lie detector when they speak. Some of them would lie so much I swear the machine would blow a fuse.

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  3. He's a liar with great appeal to liars. I notice the top 6 articles on his Facebook page were posted by Dave Liebler.

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  4. Ramos had no part in the positive outcome of the hospital sale and its survival. Ramos had no part in the creation of Pier A, Pier C and the waterfront walkway.

    Dizzy from all the lying and spinning, he needs David Libel-er to keep it going.

    It's very encouraging to witness their lies, because what it demonstrates is that their only support comes from those who would vote for them despite their abysmal - or non-existent track records and gullible, low-information voters.

    They can no longer win any election honestly and so they resort to their number one group of tactics: Lie, cheat, steal and buy votes.

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  5. The hospital is sorely needed for this great city. I served as one of the many stakeholders. Much effort was put forth to save this medical facility. By the way, it was formerly SAINT MARY HOSPITAL.

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  6. The only problem with the hospital is that they are not in network for most of the insurance plans that people have. The out of pocket cost is just too high. That's a shame.

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    1. That only matters if they send bills to people who had hospitalizations there. I know someone who was there a bit ago, the insurance numbers piled up, but noone ever sent him a bill. Hey...saving lives can be a dirty business, but it's a business.

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