Losing by the rules, yet maybe winning

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As if corruption stories in New Jersey weren't disgusting enough, UMDNJ now comes up with a topper, and there's a local angle.

The Ledger broke the story of a kickback scheme at UMDNJ involving referrals of heart patients on Sunday ("At UMDNJ, an attempt to cover up $36M fraud"). The scheme is detailed in a report by the federal monitor to be released today.

The Courier picked up the AP story today ("UMDNJ illegally took $36 million, report says") and the Ledger editorialized about the broken trust ("UMDNJ's violation of trust").

There is no doubt in PT's mind that when this is all unraveled, politics and political backscratching will come to the fore.

Which brings PT to the matter of Muhlenberg.

While UMDNJ was busy milking and bilking Medicare and Medicaid to bolster its heart program, Muhlenberg -- scrupulously playing by the state's rules -- lost out on getting a cardiac surgery license a few years back, when it was considered a matter of salvaging Muhlenberg's very existence as a hospital.

The loss was devastating -- though as a sop Muhlenberg was praised for the quality of its research and the case it presented.

PT always thought the decision on who got and who didn't was political. For instance, Jersey City 'banked' its license and never opened a program in the time frame promised.

Clearly, whatever political clout Plainfield's legislative crew could muster was weighed in the balance and found wanting in the face of that of the political 'big dogs.'

Muhlenberg was left to settle for what was then considered 'second best' -- the right to perform emergency angioplasties with the possibility of moving up to non-emergency, elective angioplasties.

And now we get glimmers that the political big dogs may not have been concerned with patients' lives at all, but with padding their pet projects and protecting their political bases.

Medical science, though, marches on.

As it turns out, angioplasties are now preferred over surgery. And in getting 'second best,' Muhlenberg may have gotten the better part of the deal.

If you thought politics was a blood sport, you would be shocked at the politicking and jockeying among New Jersey's hospitals in attempts to kill off the little guys and consolidate market share -- regardless of whether populations are better served by the outcomes.

Muhlenberg has survived a particularly nasty period, for which we should be thankful.

Will our elected officials be up to protecting Muhlenberg in the next fight?

-- Dan Damon

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