New Jersey Statutes Title 44. Poor 44 § 5-17

The governing body of a county having a population of 850,000 or more according to the latest federal decennial census may make provision for the support of resident indigent patients, who cannot be maintained by private means, in a hospital or hospitals having 50 or more beds of which 20 or more are open to the public at all times.

Provision for the maintenance and treatment of an individual patient in the hospital shall be made by the county upon the certification by the county physician of the name of the person and upon the approval of the county governing body; but the certification shall not be approved unless there is attached thereto a verified bill to the governing body for that maintenance and treatment, signed by the head officer and chief physician of the hospital and stating that the patient was in need of such maintenance and medical treatment for the time charged for and no longer. The amount to be paid shall not exceed the sum charged in the hospital in which the resident indigent is placed for patients occupying beds in wards open to the public.