Rebecca Panico | The Jersey Journal

New life has been breathed into the old Greenville Hospital in Jersey City.

The ribbon was cut Thursday afternoon on the Jersey City Medical Center at Greenville, a medical arts complex that offers a variety of services and will soon include an urgent care center.

"It is a great day for the citizens of Greenville as we were able to take a closed hospital and repurpose it," said Joe Scott, president and CEO of Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas Health, owners of the hospital. "This ribbon-cutting gives us the opportunity to show the totally renovated facility to the community, neighboring institutions, current and former trustees and elected officials."

The hospital at 1825 Kennedy Blvd. closed in 2008 because it was losing nearly $3 million a year and cuts to the state budget meant its parent could no longer sustain it, JCMC Public Affairs Director Mark Rabson said.

It was a blow to the community, speakers on Thursday said.

"This hospital represented so many dreams for so many people in this particular part of our town," state Sen. Sandra Cunningham said. "We were all devastated."

The new facility has been updated with outpatient programs and has been serving patients since March. Thursday's ceremony was attended by nearly 200 guests that included Mayor Steve Fulop, council members, and several freeholders.

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