Corzine Will Pay His Own Medical Bills

State Prepares For Injured New Jersey Governor's Resumption Of Duties, But No Date Set

(CBS/AP)  Gov. Jon S. Corzine will use his own money to pay for his medical treatment following an April 12 automobile crash and will do his rehabilitation from the governor's mansion in Princeton, a spokesman said Friday.

Meanwhile, Statehouse workers are getting ready for the governor to resume his duties even before he's able to return to the Capitol. They've been installing fiber-optic cable in the governor's office to allow Corzine to do videoconferencing, spokesman Anthony Coley said.

But Coley said no decision has been made on when Corzine will return to work. He continues to recover at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

Meanwhile, a day after Corzine let the public see the first photo of him since he was severely injured in the crash on the Garden State Parkway, he was expected to get visits from New Jersey's top lawmakers Friday.

State Senate President Richard J. Codey, who is serving as acting governor, was planning to stop by the hospital to see Corzine Friday afternoon.

Codey told WCBS Radio he spoke to Corzine by telephone on Wednesday.

"He didn't sound like his usual self, but certainly, considering his condition, he sounded very, very good," Codey told WCBS' Wayne Cabot. "He was upbeat, he was bragging about how well he was doing."

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Hear WCBS-AM's interview with
Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey

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Codey said he was a little nervous about Friday's visit.

"I kind of fear a scene where I'm at the foot of the bed, and he's got one assistant on each side of him, and he plays Donald Trump, and he says to me, 'You're fired,'" Codey (left) said.

Codey, who has been acting governor twice before, said he doesn't know when he steps down again, but expects the issue to come up in his talk Friday.

"I think he'll probably put it off for a while until such time as he's out of the hospital and settled somewhere," Codey said.

As Corzine heals from a long list of injuries, the number of people given access to him has grown.

Mostly, his family has visited him. On Thursday, he allowed an Associated Press photographer in his room for a five-minute photo session. The governor, wearing a white polo shirt and red exercise pants, told him, "I'm the most blessed person who ever lived."

Friday's expected guests would be the first elected state officials to see him.

The 60-year-old former investment banker has been hospitalized since the SUV he was riding in crashed on the Garden State Parkway. Corzine's vehicle, being driven by a state trooper at 91 mph, was clipped by a truck and lost control, slamming into a guard rail.

The governor broke his left thigh in two places, broke 11 ribs, his breastbone, collarbone, and a vertebra in his lower back. He was operated on three times and a metal rod was inserted to stabilize his leg. For more than a week, he breathed with the help of a ventilator and got nutrition through a feeding tube.

He was listed in critical but stable condition until Monday, when he was upgraded to stable condition and moved from the trauma intensive care unit to a regular hospital room. He was not expected to be released from the hospital for at least a few more days.

The accident prompted State Attorney General Stuart Rabner on Thursday to commission an independent panel of experts to review the state police unit that drives and protects the governor.

Also on Thursday, a citizen filed a complaint against the governor for failing to wear his seat belt in the accident. A municipal judge in Galloway Township will review the complaint next week and decide whether to hold a hearing, which could lead to a $46 fine.

[redmajk]

Just another politician who mususes power.

[firststate]

mainemade
The governor's vehicle was being operated by a state police officer in a code 2 condition. The vehicles emergency lights were operating without the siren. Both the other vehicles tried to yield. A combination of things went wrong and resulted in an accident. Fortunately, nobody was killed.

Corzine is doing the right thing by paying for his medical treatment, himself. He's accepting his responsibility for the injuries caused, or at least made worse, by his failure to use his seat belt.

He's lucky to have survived the lesson on the importance of seat belts. In this crash, seat belts meant the difference between walking out of the hospital after being checked out, and winding up on a ventilator in the ICU.

[mainemade]

91 MPH.! Anyone else would be in JAIL for criminal speeding!

[sero5]

Confirmed from WCBS in New Jersey:

Corzine was riding in a black Chevy Tahoe.

91 mph in that. He's lucky the Tahoe did not flip over the guard rail.

[dblbar]

fizzal - am pretty sure it had airbags, but when you don't bother to wear your seat belt, all the airbags in the world are meaningless....

I believe it was either a Suburban or an Excursion also - those things are like TANKS - now imagine one blasting down the highway at 91 miles per hour - NINETY ONE MILES PER HOUR....

again - thank God they didn't kill some innocent family...

[fizzal-2009]

What does New Jersy do buy the lowest cost bid vehicle without passenger air bags?

[dblbar]

doing 91 miles per hour.....and I could be mistaken, but I think it was raining......91 miles per hour... would that be the speed limit on that parkway?

Am pretty sure no speeding citation was issued.....

just thank God they didn't kill anybody....he'll have a lot of spare time to think about that one....