>Valley Renewal: I don’t believe the VC is in the position to make a decision about the Valley expansion
I don’t believe the VC is in the position to make a decision about the Valley expansion; there are too many unanswered questions:
1) Long before any public meeting, the Planning Board was told that alternatives to doubling in size in Ridgewood had already been examined and eliminated– because they were deemed not viable. No studies, no numbers, no details were ever presented—and the PB never asked, the just took this at face value. The Council, and the public, still don’t know why Valley won’t consider a split campus, or some alternative that will make everyone happy.***REMEMBER, we can’t really trust Valley’s promises without digging deeper. Looking for precedents, Valley told us early on that it had examined 21 other NJ hospitals that were “similar” to Valley and had expanded. No questions were asked by PB, but CRR did some fact-checking: turned out that of the 22 hospitals, Valley is the only one that is surrounded by homes on 3 sides and a school….
2) Valley keeps saying that plans have changed since the Geo-Technical expert gave his withering presentation. How? What has been changed? How can you make a decision based upon such a silly promise with no details?
3) The traffic expert examined ONLY the traffic on the Valley campus and bordering roads. How can you make a decision based upon this incomplete report? Wouldn’t it be essential to know how construction and expansion might affect traffic elsewhere in town? [it will]
4) Similarly,the geo-technical expert did not examine the soil, rock and infrastructure (waste and water lines, etc.) of land outside of Valley’s purview. How can you make a decision when you don’t know what is going on underneath the HO– USES in Ridgewood and how the construction will affect our land?
5) Why has Valley worked so hard to block the reopening of Pascack? Too many beds, they say.
6) Why then is Valley ADDING beds? The turnover rate for each bed is becoming faster and faster. This means that Valley’s 450+ beds will generating more and more traffic in the future.
7) Valley wants to expand here to “best serve the community”. What community is that? 95% of Valley patients do not live in Ridgewood. Still, at the last meeting, doctors spoke of the importance of getting to the hospital quickly—4 minutes? Four minutes from whose house? The majority of Valley patients don’t live here, so it is actually a LONGER trip for everyone else. Westwood is a part of the “community”, yet Valley wants to deny those residents close, convenient care? “Do No Harm”????
