The owners of a recently shuttered Jersey City hospital are attempting a regulatory do-over that the state health department is blocking — and a monthslong drama over the hospital is set to spill over at a public meeting Wednesday night.

Weeks after telling the state it had to close Jersey City’s second-to-last hospital, owner Hudson Regional Health is now saying it can keep it open — in a different location. But state officials are rejecting the request, saying it’s too late for the company to change its mind.

City officials said the health system has once again left them in the dark about its plans.

The move comes as the sudden closure brought fines for the owner, Hudson Regional Health, and sparked fierce public backlash from residents and public officials, who have accused the company of deceptive practices and a lack of transparency about its plans.

Heights University Hospital, formerly known as Christ Hospital, has served Jersey City since 1872. Before it closed in the face of yearslong financial troubles, it was a safety-net hospital, serving a high number of low-income, uninsured patients. Hudson Regional Health took over the hospital last year, after the previous operator, CarePoint Health, went bankrupt.

Hudson Regional Health told state officials the hospital could no longer function, having lost $74 million last year and projecting a loss of $30 million this year. In order to close, though, the state needs to grant the hospital a certificate of need.

Hudson Regional Health announced late Tuesday it was withdrawing its application for that certificate, the latest twist in a saga that began late last year and has intensified in recent months. The hospital closed in March ahead of state approval, leaving New Jersey’s second-largest city with just one emergency room.

Local Jersey City officials, including Mayor James Solomon, said they had heard nothing from Hudson Regional Health on the potential re-opening, but company spokesperson Vijay Chaudhuri said the surprise move was always on the table.

“Hudson Regional Health has always intended to provide critical health care access in a manner that is financially sustainable in the Heights,” company spokesperson Vijay Chaudhuri said in a statement. “In recent days, HRH has been encouraged by renewed efforts with its landlord to evaluate the restoration of health care services in the region.”

But state officials quickly quashed Hudson Regional Health’s request, which came in a letter on Monday.

“Allowing a withdrawal of the closure [certificate of need] application now would require accepting a fiction that the hospital, which has ceased operating as a general hospital, remains open for business and can still relocate to continue serving the community from a different location,” wrote Michael Kennedy, executive director of the state health department’s certificate of need and licensing division, in a letter denying the request.

Kennedy cited the fact that Hudson Regional Health opted to close the facility without state approval or public notification in violation of state regulations.

“It cannot now avoid the consequences by purporting to withdraw its application,” he said.

Chaudhuri did not respond to follow-up questions from Gothamist on Wednesday morning.

Avery Eisenreich, the hospital’s landlord, could not be reached right away.

Hospital closures in New Jersey must be approved by the state Department of Health through the certificate of need process. Hudson Regional Health applied for such a certificate to close Heights University Hospital last year. The application was only deemed to be complete — but not approved — on March 20.

But Hudson Regional Health has not waited for the legal closure process to play out. The company shuttered most of the hospital in November, with only the emergency room remaining open. That ER closed last month.

Health department officials have said Hudson Regional Health is breaking state law, and the agency had fined HRH $128,000 as of the end of March.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers have said Hudson Regional Health’s actions have caused them to consider stiffening penalties in the certificate of need process to deter future facility closures that could negatively affect residents.

The company’s rush to close the hospital has caused problems with its landlord, who sent Hudson Regional Health a letter earlier this month demanding it cease-and-desist any closure efforts. The landlord’s letter warns the certificate of need to operate Heights University Hospital belongs to them as the property owner, and claims Hudson Regional Health's actions would cause them damages.

In a letter last week, Hudson Regional Health told state officials about the landlord's concerns and warned the situation could jeopardize Hoboken University Hospital, another Hudson Regional Health hospital on property owned by the same landlord.

Lawyers for Hudson Regional Health on Monday asked the state Department of Health to withdraw the company’s certificate of need application, according to a letter the company shared with Gothamist. That letter said the company “has determined that closure of the facility is not an option inasmuch as it would effectively preclude it from fulfilling its charitable purpose and disenfranchise an inordinate number of patients who depend on Heights for their care.”

The letter goes on to say Hudson Regional Health is evaluating options to keep the hospital open, including the possibility of a relocation.

“HRH has engaged the facility’s landlord and [Jersey City] regarding construction of a new facility and is in process of seeking financing therefor,” the letter states.

But city officials disputed the company’s characterization.

“HRH has not engaged the city about relocating Christ Hospital or any other serious alternative proposal for the facility,” said Nathaniel Styer, a spokesperson for Mayor James Solomon, who opposed the site’s closure.

Hudson Regional Health said its request to withdraw its application means a public meeting scheduled for Wednesday night is no longer needed. But that meeting is still scheduled, according to a Department of Health spokesperson, though it will now be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m at William Dickinson High School, rather than the hospital.

The Health Professionals and Allied Employees union, which represented staff at Heights University Hospital, continues to condemn Hudson Regional Health’s handling of the facility.

“The purpose of the New Jersey Department of Health hearing is for the public to have their say,” HPAE President Debbie White said in a statement. “We think with all that HRH has taken away from the community, they deserve to have their voices heard.”

Solomon is planning to testify at the hearing about “the need for high-quality, reliable health care facilities in the Heights run by partners who see residents as patients, not profits,” Styer said.

The hearing is a key part of the certificate of need process, as Department of Health staff will write recommendations for the hospital’s future based in part on the testimony presented, according to state officials. Those recommendations will then be presented to the State Health Planning Board, which will vote on whether to recommend approving or denying the certificate of need. The state health commissioner will make the final decision about the certificate.