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Pascack Valley hospital seeks Approval to Expand ER

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Pascack Valley hospital in Westwood seeks to move ER

JULY 2, 2015    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2015, 12:30 AM
BY SARAH NOLAN
MANAGING EDITOR |
PASCACK VALLEY COMMUNITY LIFE

Two years after reopening its doors as Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) at Pascack Valley, the hospital is before the Westwood Planning Board with an application to relocate its emergency room.

During a June 25 public hearing, hospital chief executive officer (CEO) Emily Holliman said the updates are part of HUMC at Pascack Valley’s “long-range plan to expand,” and will include relocating the emergency department from the rear of the building, to the front, which she said will “provide for a much-enhanced department for patients” with better access.

The plans also call for dedicated, separate entrances for emergency medical vehicles and walk-in patients or visitors, a security vestibule and bereavement room, as well as a drop-off area for patients or visitors, and continued valet parking, a service the hospital currently offers.

The new location will essentially double the square footage of the emergency department to 22,000 square feet, Holliman said, and provide 25 private patient rooms, including five pediatric treatment rooms, which the hospital does not currently have.

It will allow for direct access to several other departments, from the emergency department, improving the flow of the department.

Holliman said that while the hospital currently sees six or seven inbound ambulances per 24 hours, she anticipates with the new department it will be able to handle 14 a day, and double annual Emergency Room visits from 18,000 a year to 37,000. The new emergency department will be located in an area of the hospital that is not currently being utilized – the old obstetrics unit, Holliman said.

“This new department will allow us to grow and expand in the future and continue to provide high quality, efficient service,” she said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/hospital-seeks-to-move-er-1.1366722

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Reader says Valley tried to buy the license of Pascack Valley for $2 million in order to terminate and keep it CLOSED Pascack Valley, arguing that there were too many available health care services and beds in the region.

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Chris Christie at People First , Open Pascack Valley Hospital Rally

Reader says Valley tried to buy the license of Pascack Valley for $2 million in order to terminate and keep it CLOSED Pascack Valley, arguing that there were too many available health care services and beds in the region.

Richard Keenan, Valley’s chief financial officer and senior vice president, said in his testimony “Most nights there are approximately 300 unoccupied hospital beds in Bergen County,” Some remaining hospitals “are still running at dangerously low occupancy levels,”

Do recall that Valley tried to buy the license of Pascack Valley for $2 million in order to terminate and keep it CLOSED, arguing up to 2013 decision that there were too many available health care services and beds in the region.

“The bed need study that we conducted again shows that opening another hospital in the most overbedded county in the state makes no sense,” said Valley CEO Audrey Meyers.

From a Valley lawyer at the time : ‘The board of trustees and the leadership of The Valley Hospital continue to believe that the opening of a new hospital ( PV) during an era of health care reform, declining hospital reimbursement, reduced patient hospitalizations, insignificant population growth and a challenging economy is wrong for the health care system of Bergen County,” “The latest numbers show that there will be no increase in demand for health care, and a new hospital will only hurt existing hospitals.”

So Valley basically argued that Pascack Valley wasn’t inherently beneficial to the region given healthcare surpluses but knowing that PV’s continued closure was inherently beneficial to Valley accumulating additional profits .

PV hearings exposed Valley’s ulterior motives and any pretense of altruism. The embarrassing double talk of Valley, the repeated attempts to shove through an overbuild and now this wasteful suit has alienated this community

Valley enjoys a coveted address and gracious host but its rather affluent residents are also educated and attentive and not willing to let the detriments of unbridled expansion degrade their town. Valley always had their support and ability to properly renew but their aspirations to be a regional behemoth needed to be thoughtfully planned especially given past rulings and guidance about limitations which they obviously choose to disregard.
Technology today allows the option of operating a right sized base with satellites , Valley could take this route or materially expand at another location as some other regional hospitals did. No legitimate rationale exists for any huge expansion not to be in a suitable location. Poor planning or arrogance are not a basis for an overbuild.

The existing building of HUMC PV was totally renovated with the newest technology for $80mil . Valley is a larger structure as is so the cost would be proportionately higher but a proper renewal would result in large scost avings that can be reinvested elsewhere. Valley and its trustees should take a cue from others and embark on a proper renewal at Van Dien and other options before they lose whatever is left of their goodwill and rank.

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