Dear colleague,
We wrote last week to urge Rutgers faculty to call Governor Sherrill and urge her to VETO Assembly Bill 5350/Senate Bill 4515. Allowing this bill to pass into law will enable Rutgers Health administrators to draw lavish paychecks and bonuses from Barnabas, a private healthcare corporation, without reporting them to the public. This would undermine our university’s educational and patient care missions and enable corporate corruption of critical New Jersey hospital systems.
Today, NorthJersey.com published an investigative reporting piece on this clear and growing conflict of interest between Rutgers Health and Barnabas Health— demonstrating that this is an urgent issue not only for Rutgers University, but the New Jersey communities its hospitals serve.
As union leadership, we ask that you continue to call Governor Sherrill to VETO this damaging bill, share this NorthJersey.com investigative piece as well as BHSNJ President Cathy Monteleone’s op-ed at NJ.com, and call on your New Jersey communities to do the same before this bill passes into law on or before August 14.
You can reach the Governor’s Office at: 609-292-6000
You can find a sample call script below the email signature.
In solidarity,
Cathy, HP, and Becky
Dr. Catherine Monteleone, President, AAUP-BHSNJ
Heather Pierce, President, Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union
Rebecca Givan, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Sample Script, feel free to adjust based on your specific role:
Good morning.
My name is XXXX, and I am a Rutgers University Faculty member and a concerned New Jersey resident.
I urge you to VETO Assembly Bill 5350/Senate Bill 4515.
As a public health system, Rutgers Health has an important mission: educating future physicians and healthcare providers, advancing research, and serving the public—not advancing the interests of any private healthcare system.
Weakening conflict-of-interest protections risks undermining independent decision-making, academic integrity, and public trust. When leaders have competing loyalties, decisions about education, research, faculty, and patient care may be influenced by financial interests rather than what is best for students, physicians, patients, and the people of New Jersey.
Please protect the independence of Rutgers’s Medical Schools and preserve the public’s trust by VETOING Assembly Bill 5350/Senate Bill 4515.
Thank you.