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ER to reopen this fall
(by Maggie Fazeli Fard - May 15, 2008)
The $45 million purchase of the former Pascack Valley Hospital (PVH) behind him, Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) President John Ferguson put months of speculation to rest in two simple sentences Wednesday night.
“We want to open up a full-service hospital,” Ferguson said to a hearty round of applause that sounded through the
Westwood
Community Center , where a special meeting of the mayor and council was held May 14. “That’s what we want to do.”
PVH, $80 million in debt, declared bankruptcy and closed its doors last fall. The $45 million sale of the hospital site to HUMC and Touro University College of Medicine (TouroMed) was approved by a federal court judge in February and the sale was finalized last month after the state attorney general ruled that she had no objection to the sale and would not require a public hearing.
The May 14 meeting gave area residents the opportunity to hear firsthand what was to become of their community hospital.
Hospital Phase One – 6 to 12 months
According to Robert Garrett, executive vice president and chief executive officer of HUMC, the plan to reopen a hospital on the former PVH site will be accomplished in three phases.
Phase One, which Garrett said would take six to 12 months to realize, includes opening an emergency room within the next six months, October being the goal date. HUMC recently completed its application to reopen the emergency room in its former location and is awaiting approval from the state Department of Health.
In addition to the reopening of the emergency room, Phase One will reopen 60 medical, surgical and obstetrics beds, six operating rooms, parts of laboratory to service the emergency room and the 60 open beds, radiology services, a cardiac catheterization lab, a sleep center, and the lobby and cafeteria.
Also during Phase One, HUMC will begin to renovate the rest of the hospital, including patient rooms, each of which will have a single bed and private bathroom with shower, and the parts of the laboratory that are not supporting the emergency room and patient beds.
The old obstetrics area of PVH will be renovated to become a new emergency room three to four times larger than what PVH offered. The new emergency room will replace the old one, which will be in use throughout Phase One renovations.
Hospital Phase Two – 12 to 24 months
During Phase Two, which will take 12 to 24 months to realize, renovations to the patient care areas will be completed and a total of 150 beds, including the 60 that were in use during Phase One, will be opened. PVH had 185 beds.
Also during phase two, emergency services will be relocated to the new emergency room, formerly PVH’s obstetrics area, and aesthetic renovations to the existing building will continue.
Hospital Phase Three – 24 to 30 months
The final phase, which will take 24 to 30 months, will see the completion of non-patient area renovations and the reopening of a full-service hospital.
To offer acute-care services at the former PVH site, HUMC must obtain a certificate of need approving the transfer of ownership of the property. The license, which was not transferred to HUMC in the PVH sale, must be reactivated before it expires in November 2009.
Garrett said that the application is in the process of being prepared and will be filed shortly. Garret also noted that public meetings will occur as the transfer of ownership process takes place, and asked residents and officials in attendance to make their voices heard when that time comes.
“The state wants to hear about why it’s important for those [150] beds to reopen,” Garrett said. “When all is said and done, we’re going to have a great, full-service hospital for this community with the quality that HUMC is known for. This area completely deserves it.”
What is not yet clear in HUMC’s plans is what the reopened hospital would be called. After one resident suggested calling it “Pascack Valley Yesterday,” Ferguson said the name would likely be something closer to “
Hackensack
University
Medical
Center at
Pascack
Valley .” The final name of the facility, however, has not been determined.
Medical school
In addition to medical care provided by HUMC, TouroMed plans to open a medical school on the former PVH site. TouroMed would occupy the basement, second, third and fourth floors of the new PVH wing, and HUMC would occupy the first floor and the remainder of the hospital.
The four-year medical school is currently awaiting accreditation, and Dean Paul Wallach expects to welcome TouroMed’s first class of students in August 2009. If there is a delay in accreditation, the opening date will be in August 2010.
Wallach said that TouroMed’s first incoming class will be comprised of 40 students, but at full maturity each class will have 100 students, a total of 400.
TouroMed has no intention of opening any dormitories (students and faculty would buy homes and rent apartments in the area surrounding the former PVH site) and Wallach told residents not to expect “frat house” behavior. He said that medical school students are typically 25 years old and study about 100 hours per week.
In addition to classroom instruction on-site, TouroMed students in the their third and fourth years would participate in rotations at HUMC’s
Hackensack and Westwood facilities.
Wallach said that it is his intention for TouroMed students to become part of the
Pascack
Valley community as well as resources for officials, schools and community groups.
“I firmly believe that the success of a medical school is dependent on the support it receives from its community,” said Wallach.
Resident concerns
While HUMC and TouroMed representatives received numerous ovations and even a few mirthful hoots and hollers in response to their presentations, the greater part of the two-hour meeting was devoted to fielding resident questions and concerns, particularly regarding staffing.
While the hospital will not give priority to former PVH employees, everyone will be eligible to apply for jobs.
“We will hire the best people that we can find,” said
Ferguson plainly.
HUMC will conduct a staffing fair and applicants will be able apply on the hospital’s Web site or meet with the human resources department. For information, visit www.humc.com/humanres.
TouroMed’s job information will be available at the school Web site, www.touromed.touro.edu.
Volunteers, too, expressed interest in having their jobs back.
“We know that no hospital can be a success without volunteers,” said Betty Hamilton of Westwood, who volunteered at PVH for 18 years. PVH had 500 volunteers in the main building alone.
“We want our jobs back,” said
Hamilton . “We are necessary. If you try to do it without us, you will not succeed.”
Residents also expressed concern that HUMC and TouroMed may not be able to follow through on their promises and called for the political officials in attendance, including members of local governing bodies as well as Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk, Assemblyman John Rooney and Senator Gerald Cardinale, to play a part in the success of the plan.
“The canary was coughing for a long time before PVH closed,” said one resident, Thomas Flattery of Haworth. “No one was looking at the money. I don’t know who to blame. There’s a lot of blame to go around.
“The politicians in the room should have seen this coming,” Flattery continued. “You’ve got to play your role. You missed it last time.”
Westwood Mayor John Birkner said that the HUMC and TouroMed slide presentations would be posted on the borough Web site, www.westwoodnj.gov.
Maggie Fazeli Fard's e-mail address is fazelifard@northjersey.com.
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