St. Peter’s Hospital to continue mission as ‘beacon of healing hope’

January 31, 2024.

My dear brothers and sisters,

As you know, our local Church has been blessed with the ability to walk closely with those who are sick and dying, offering healing and peace through Jesus Christ thanks to the good work of Saint Peter’s University Hospital (Saint Peter’s) in New Brunswick. For over 116 years, as an independent Catholic institution, Saint Peter’s has been a beacon of healing hope offering medical care and great love for each individual from conception to natural death.

However, as I have shared before, in order to continue to offer that healing care of Christ, we can no longer walk alone. You may recall that Saint Peter’s began a formal, comprehensive discernment process in 2017.  Just recently, Saint Peter’s Board of Governors has made a recommendation, and I have accepted and supported it, to sign a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with Atlantic Health System (Atlantic Health) that includes a detailed Term Sheet with the intent of reaching a Definitive Agreement in the coming months. The Term Sheet provides for a Catholic Identity Agreement (CIA) to be included as part of the Definitive Agreement. 

Through this new strategic partnership, Saint Peter’s would remain a Catholic institution as outlined in the CIA and continue to abide by the Ethical and Religious Directive (ERDs) for Catholic Health Care Services as a full-service provider of acute healthcare services for New Brunswick and the greater Middlesex County community. It is expected that the strength of Atlantic Health, with its greater clinical and financial resources and capabilities, will help Saint Peter’s to further evolve, advancing a high-quality, efficient, and comprehensive healthcare system in Central New Jersey, ensuring Saint Peter’s continues its Catholic mission of care for the whole human person.

Saint Peter’s commitment to transformative healthcare is evident in the countless lives we have touched and the stories of healing that have unfolded within our communities. I am grateful for the continued work of Saint Peter’s leadership for bringing this new potential transaction to this stage, along with the oversight and guidance of Dr. John Haas, President Emeritus of the National Catholic Bioethics Center and Reverend Monsignor William J. King of the Diocese of Harrisburg and the Catholic University of America in assuring that the transaction is structured such that Saint Peter’s will remain faithful to the Catholic health care tradition.

In addition to internal communications, Saint Peter’s has a dedicated email address to receive stakeholder questions and concerns: [email protected]. On a diocesan level, Reverend Monsignor John N. Fell, STD, who serves as the Episcopal Vicar for our Healthcare Apostolate, will be the primary contact. He can be reached at [email protected]

Please join me in our continued prayer for the entire Saint Peter’s community as they enter the next phase of the discernment process to strengthen and sustain our Catholic mission in service to those ailing and dying in our local Church. We also lift up in prayer the members of the Saint Peter’s Governing Board and senior leadership and each person who contributes daily to the operations of our Catholic healthcare system, which works to serve all people created in God’s image and likeness with the same respect, dignity, and love by Christ.  

May Our Lady of Lourdes intercede for those in need.

With renewed best wishes, I remain

Yours in Christ,

Most Reverend James F. Checchio, JCD, MBA
Bishop of Metuchen