February 14, 1996

JIMMY CIGAR is at the back table. Nicky Vest is tending bar.

The New Jersey Hospital Association said its members have already provided $60 million in unreimbursed care to poor patients since funds set aside for charity care ran out Dec. 31. Three Democratic Assembly members, led by Neil M. Cohen of Elizabeth, the deputy minority leader, said they had come up with a solution to the crisis and would propose today that $200 million for charity-care reimbursements be made available from the state's general fund. But Assemblyman Walter J. Kavanaugh, a Somerville Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee, said he prefers to use money from the state's Unemployment Insurance Fund, while reducing the cost of charity care.

The New York metropolitan region -- the nation's pre-eminent urban center, and a worldwide symbol of opportunity -- faces the threat of a long-term economic decline in the 21st century unless residents and politicians summon the will and resources to begin a multibillion-dollar campaign of transportation improvements, education reforms and urban rejuvenation, a major planning group said yesterday. The report, based on a five-year study by the Regional Plan Association, a private research group based in Manhattan, looks ahead 24 years to the year 2020 and predicts two very different possible futures for the 31-county, three-state metropolitan area stretching from Litchfield, Conn., to central New Jersey.

Dow Ekes Out a Gain But Stocks Generally Fall Broad stock indexes dropped from their record levels, pulled down by a slump in semiconductor stocks. But the Dow Jones industrial average gained slightly, to its seventh record in a row. The spurt has lifted the average 4.2 percent in the last week. The Dow ended up 1.08 points, at 5,601.23, while the S.& P. 500 index eased 0.94, to 660.51. [Page D8.]

A significant number of problems in deliveries at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center can be traced to mistakes or poor care by the hospital, a state review of medical records has found. But overall, the study found little difference in the quality of delivery room care between New York City's 11 public hospitals, including Woodhull, and their private affiliates, which are run mainly by the city's premiere academic medical centers.