SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 5034

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 8, 2026

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 5034.

      As reported, this bill establishes a pilot program to support hospitals that maintain certain services when relocating, and appropriates $3 million.

      Under the bill, in order to ensure continued access to care for patients residing in underserved communities, the Department of Health is to establish a pilot program known as the “Continued Access in Underserved Communities Pilot Program,” under which a hospital for which the Department of Health has approved a certificate of need application to relocate from its original location in an underserved community to a property that was owned by the federal government on or before December 31, 2005, may maintain a community access location at the hospital’s original location for the duration of the pilot program.

      The bill provides that the community access location is to operate at the relocated hospital’s original location in an underserved community and under the same license as the relocated hospital and may be: (1) operated as a remote location of the relocated hospital; and (2) overseen by the same administration, support departments, and clinical departments as apply to the relocated hospital.  The Department of Health is to have the authority to grant waivers from the mandatory requirements set forth in this bill or any other applicable requirements set forth in N.J.A.C. 8:43G-1 et seq. that may be necessary for the hospital to maintain a community access location at its original location in an underserved community pursuant to the bill’s provisions in a manner that facilitates integration with the relocated hospital.

      Under the bill, any hospital that participates in the pilot program is to apply for and receive financial assistance to cover the anticipated costs associated with developing and maintaining the services and infrastructure of a community access location or with developing and implementing community health programs that support continued access to care in the underserved community, subject to the availability of appropriated funds, and provided that the participating hospital is to submit an application satisfying the requirements set forth in the bill.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      Fiscal information for this bill is currently unavailable.