RWJBarnabas Health said Oct. 17 that the New Jersey Department of Health has advanced the system’s plans to build a 252-bed modern acute care hospital in Tinton Falls on the Vogel Medical Campus.
RWJBarnabas Health said the project includes significant investments to modernize facilities and maintain essential services and patient access at the existing Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.
The Department of Health notified RWJBarnabas Health that the system’s certificate of need application is complete, allowing the proposed project to move forward to the next phase of the review and approval process.
“RWJBarnabas Health is building a health-care model for the future right here in Monmouth County,” said Eric Carney, president and CEO of Monmouth Medical Center and Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood. “Our bold vision includes new and improved facilities designed to meet the evolving needs of our community, driven by the expertise of our providers and feedback from our patients.”
Located five miles away from Monmouth Medical Center’s Long Branch campus, the Vogel Medical Campus at Fort Monmouth in Tinton Falls, will include the specialty and cancer care center and the proposed new, modern acute care hospital.
RWJBarnabas Health said Monmouth Medical Center will continue to provide patients with “vital and essential health services and an enhanced patient experience. The Long Branch campus will maintain critical emergency and behavioral health services, as well as overnight observation beds.”
The Department of Health action drew opposition from Hackensack Meridian Health, which believes the DOH’s decision “to move ahead with plans for RWJ Barnabas to move Monmouth Medical Center out of Long Branch is a mistake that will endanger patients and destabilize regional health care.”
Hackensack Meridian Health said RWJ Barnabas’ plan “will disproportionately harm Long Branch’s uninsured, minority, and chronically ill populations who will lose their birthing center, life-saving cardiac care, and rapid access to stroke treatment… If approved, the consequences will be felt immediately at Hackensack Meridian Health’s Jersey Shore University Medical Center and Riverview Medical Center… This undue stress to our hospitals, along with the move forcing patients to travel further for quality care, hurts the health of everyone in Monmouth County.”
Monmouth Medical Center’s Carney said the company is “reaffirming our commitment to Long Branch by continuing to invest in Monmouth Medical Center. Upgrading this facility will allow us to continue providing high-quality health care in Long Branch well into the future, ensuring we meet the evolving needs of the community for generations to come.”
Mary Anne Nagy, chairperson of the Monmouth Medical Center Board of Trustees, said, “The Long Branch campus will continue to provide essential emergency services, while the new acute care hospital in Tinton Falls, with its close proximity to the Garden State Parkway and other major roadways, will bring Monmouth Medical Center’s nationally recognized clinical care closer to more people we serve across the county and region.”
