Owners of for-profit North Jersey hospitals cash in on land beneath

Three years after Bayonne Medical Center's new for-profit owners bought the hospital at bankruptcy for the equivalent of $32 million, they sold its land and buildings for $58 million. Then they leased it back and continued to run the hospital — enhancing their profits through some of the highest hospital charges in the country, according to recent Medicare disclosures. It was the first example of a trend that has emerged as for-profit companies acquire more New Jersey hospitals. Already, hospital properties in Secaucus, Hoboken and Bayonne are owned by real estate investors, with more deals possible in Passaic and elsewhere.