Approval of Superior Court required for acquisition of University Hospital

17. a. University Hospital shall be required to obtain approval from the Superior Court of New Jersey prior to entering into a transaction that results in the acquisition of the hospital, and shall satisfy the requirements of the "Community Health Care Assets Protection Act," P.L.2000, c.143 (C.26:2H-7.10 et seq.). Any acquisition of University Hospital by a new entity after the effective date of this act shall be structured so as to retain the status of University Hospital employees as public employees within the meaning of the "New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act," P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-1 et seq.). b. The Attorney General, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, shall adopt regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410, (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to carry out the purposes of subsection a. of this section. c. In determining whether the proposed acquisition is in the public interest, meaning that appropriate steps have been taken to safeguard the value of the hospital's public assets and to ensure that any proceeds from the proposed acquisition are irrevocably dedicated for appropriate charitable health care purposes, the same criteria and process shall apply as set forth in the "Community Health Care Assets Protection Act," P.L.2000, c.143 (C.26:2H-7.10 et seq.) and the Attorney General shall consider: (1) whether the public entity that owns and operates the public hospital exercised due diligence in deciding to effectuate the acquisition, selecting the other party to the acquisition and negotiating the terms and conditions of the acquisition; (2) the procedures used by the public entity in making its decision, including whether the appropriate expert assistance was used; (3) whether conflicts of interest were disclosed, including conflicts relating to board members of the public hospital, executives of, and experts retained by, the public hospital, purchaser or other parties to the acquisition; (4) whether any management contract under the acquisition is for reasonable value; (5) whether the public entity will receive full and fair market value for its assets; (6) whether the public entity established appropriate criteria in deciding to pursue the acquisition in relation to carrying out the mission and purpose of the public entity and the hospital; (7) whether the acquisition is structured so as to retain the status of University Hospital employees as public employees within the meaning of subsection d. of section 3 of the "New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act," P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-3) and any applicable State pension and health benefits laws; and (8) any other criteria set forth in the "Community Health Care Assets Protection Act" or established pursuant to that act by the Attorney General. d. University Hospital shall be required to obtain approval from the Department of Health and Senior Services prior to entering into a transaction that results in the acquisition of the hospital and shall satisfy the certificate of needs requirements. e. The Commissioner of Health and Senior Services shall determine whether the proposed acquisition will result in the deterioration of the quality, availability, or accessibility of health care services in the affected communities. f. For a period of five years, any substantive changes to essential health care services provided by University Hospital shall be subject to review by the University Hospital Community Oversight Board and approval by the Department of Health and Senior Services through a licensing review process. g. University Hospital shall provide quarterly financial statements to the Department of Health and Senior Services which shall be posted on the hospital's public Internet website.