Notices of potential layoffs have been distributed to the 2,602 employees of the struggling CarePoint Health hospital network that owns Bayonne Medical Center, Christ Hospital and Hoboken University Medical Center. The letters are alerting employees they may laid off effective Dec. 12, and the letters were issued as CarePoint Health, which converted from a for-profit to nonprofit two years ago, has begun seriously exploring bankruptcy or other forms of financial restructuring. Officials at the healthcare network — which has been stung by dozens of lawsuits from frustrated creditors —say they have not determined whether layoffs will be necessary or how many there would be if deemed necessary. However, they are taking the precautionary step to put employees on notice as they prepare to make a decision by the end of the month about whether to file for bankruptcy, merge with another network, or rearrange debts in another way.
