NJ reviewing plan to run St. Mary's hospital in Passaic for profit

The state Attorney General's Of­fice is asking dozens of questions about the proposed sale of St. Mary's Hospital in Passaic to a Cal­ifornia-based for-profit hospital company as part of the review re­quired when charitable institutions are converted to for-profit status. State authorities want to know how Prime Healthcare Services, which operates 21 hospitals and wants to expand into the North­east, came to bid on St. Mary's, and how the proposals submitted by Prime and other bidders were eval­uated. "Why are the trustees willing to accept a commitment from [Prime Healthcare] to maintain the hospital as an acute-care facility for only five years?" asks one of the 50 questions.