By ELISE YOUNG
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWS

Every hospital patient -- even those with health insurance -- would suffer under Gov. Jon S. Corzine's proposed $143 million reduction in charity care, authorities told a crowd of hundreds outside the State House on Monday.

"It threatens the viability of all hospitals," said Mary Ann Marra of Clifton, a nurse for Columbus Hospital, one of two money-losing Newark hospitals scheduled to close.

In a soaking, cold rain, the crowd -- including paramedics, physicians, technicians and therapists -- cheered as speakers called on the governor to find budget reductions elsewhere. At one point, dozens of emergency vehicles sounded their sirens and flashed their lights, and the crowd pumped their umbrellas and signs reading: "Some cuts never heal" and "Restore charity care."

Speakers said cuts in urban areas would force 1.3 million poor New Jerseyans to go without care or seek treatment far from home, leading to crowding at hospitals that aren't equipped or staffed to handle the influx.

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