>Valley Hospital is seeking to change the Village’s Master Plan and the H-Zone ordinances to allow them to increase the size of the structures on their 15.4 acre Ridgewood campus.
The two stage, multi-year, $750 million proposal is to increase the total Gross Floor area by 71%; reduce the building setbacks to 40 feet on all four sides of the property (from the present effective 144 ft); increase on-site parking by 400 spaces and to increase building heights to 80 feet (56 ft + 24 ft of mechanicals).
After examining the proposal, over 400 residents formed a group called the Concerned Residents of Ridgewood to fight the proposal. They have a website www.stopvalley.com. The group believes in quality healthcare, but not at the expense of the village. They believe that, if the proposal is allowed to pass without amendment, the unique character of Village will be destroyed and Ridgewood will become just another “hospital town”.
A major concern is the permanent nature of the proposed changes to the Master Plan and Ordinances. If the H-Zone ordinance changes are allowed to pass, the hospital will be able to continue building beyond their current proposal without the needing to gain variance approval at the public Board Meetings – only site plan approval.
If the Master Plan changes are approved, any future variance changes beyond what is requested by the Hospital today will be harder to oppose as the proposed changes to the Master Plan will render the Village “Hospital expansion friendly”.
The specific issues are:
Proposed changes to the Master Plan and H-Zone ordinances that will change the Character of the Village
The number of licensed beds will increase by 3, but the size of the hospital will be 374,333 sq feet at a cost of $750 million – will the health insurance companies pay the resulting higher fees?
-There will be more buildings and less open space.
-A reduction in house values of the surrounding neighborhoods
-Possible road widening creating safety and traffic issues
-Ben Franklin Middle School is right next to the hospital, Travell Elementary School only one block away and students transverse Van Dien to RHS. There are significant safety and quality of -life issues for those students during the 3+ years of proposed construction.
>So what’s the sq.ft. of the hosp now?
They’re not adding 374,333 sq.ft.
I hope no one has a heart attack after all this is resolved.
I believe that most of the nay sayers outside the neighborhood people are Hackensack supporters or have some vested interest in having Valley go away.
400 people are 200 or less households. Not a lot of clought.
But they have more rights to complain then someone on the west side.
Perhaps some of the folks on the post of 8/21/07, should join in here. They seem to have some great ideas that maybe the Valley people have not come up with.
>(Sorry this is so long) Allow me – a resident who lives less than 2 blocks from Valley – to respond to your “spin:”
First, I believe in quality healthcare, too, and also not at the expense of the village. I don’t believe the proposed plan will be at the expense of the village. I don’t believe the unique character of our village will be destroyed. Those are not givens. The size of Valley’s buildings within its property does not have a whole lot of affect on my day-to-day quality of life, nor will we turn into “just another hospital town” any more than we currently are “just another hospital town.” I’m not sure what that means, but I feel there are way more important and relevant things impacting the quality of our village every day.
“…the proposed changes to the Master Plan will render the Village “Hospital expansion friendly”.”
None of us has a crystal ball, so I don’t see how you can definitively claim this as a fact. Any future expansion would still need site plan approval, which is still an approval process.
“…will the health insurance companies pay the resulting higher fees?”
What higher fees? This is an assumption on your part that there will be higher fees directly as a consequence of this exact plan. I’ve got news for you from my own “crystal ball:” the future will definitely bring higher hospital fees to all of us. And insurance companies will definitely not pay as much as they should. But that’s not the fault of the Valley renewal.
“There will be more buildings and less open space.”
I don’t look to Valley for my open space. Do you currently use any “open space” behind the hedges at Valley? I doubt it.
“A reduction in house values of the surrounding neighborhoods…”
Again, not a given. Perhaps values will be affected during the construction, but I feel that a homeowner bordering Valley would have to expect construction at some point. And when the renewal is complete all our values may even rise thanks to the first-rate hospital in our neighborhood.
“Possible road widening creating safety and traffic issues…”
Road widening is not part of the plan. There are many places in town where we could see “possible road widening” some day. I imagine that any of those proposals, if they ever come to pass, will be evaluated and judged and implemented if necessary for our traffic situation. Why would a wider road automatically be bad?
“There are significant safety and quality of -life issues for those students (BF & Travell) during the 3+ years of proposed construction.”
Those significant issues have been significantly addressed by Valley. They are planning many impressive procedures to make the area safe and clean and to minimize the potential for disruption. If the steps they’ve already promised aren’t enough, then let’s ask for more. Let’s be specific and work it out. They are a health care facility, for goodness sake – they’re not some evil developer who wants to jeopardize the health and welfare of children, any more than you are.
I just wanted to point out that there is more than one way to look at most of your concerns.
>I dont live in the immediate vicinity and I’m not a Hackensack supporter (whatever that is), but I firmly think that VH is already too big and that a 3/4 of a billion construction project is inappropriate in a residential neighborhood that is already a traffic problem in the mornings.
By the way, I don’t think anyone needs to lose sleep about chasing VH away. It’s a cash machine…there’s a reason why they are prepared to spend so much money on that site.
>The road widening is not made up to scare people. Valley’s own proposal talks about reducing the setbacks to a maximum of 12 feet in the event of road widening easement. Also, why is this propsal going through the planning board? A project of this magnitude should be voted on by the entire town. I don’t see how the Valley supporters can argue with that.
>Megan F. at 12:15pm?
>So what’s the sq.ft. of the hosp now?
Gross Floor Areas
Now = 525,551 Sq.ft.
After Phase 2D 899,884 Sq.ft.
Increase 374,333 sq.ft. (inc. 71%)
>Valley supporter at 12:15pm, you don’t need a crystal ball to know that development or renewal never gives the people better than they had before. No one knows what the future hold but I know that my insurance company will not pay me back the same amount for a private room as a shared room. I will be out of pocket by more if the expansion goes ahead. I also am sure that if it is built people will come which will mean more traffic on aour already clogged roads.
In response to the open space issue. It is not necessarily about open space for use but a visual open space that is needed in residential areas but it would be nice if there was more usable open space for patients and staff! Think also on where is all the rain water runoff going to go when we get our torential rain. It certainly will not be going into the ground covered by balcktop.
If this was not a hospital would you be making up the smae excuses to allow the expansion?
>The Valley supporter said about safety: “Those significant issues have been significantly addressed by Valley”.
Where are the details? I have read your renewal website that there are no details; Valley just says just trust us. Forgive us long time residents for being cynical after the way this has been introduced and the past construction record going back to the Phillip building.
>I hope they build it i like to see done nice and big.so stop your crying we all new this was comeing 10 years a go.so stop your bitching,or move to a nother town.
>No, I am not “Megan F” and I have no personal or professional connection to Valley.
Re: open space: if you call the current parking lot “visual open space” (and it’s mostly behind hedges anyway), I guess that’s your definition, but I think that’s stretching it.
You’re worried about rainwater? The property is currently all either blacktop or building. There is no grassy field there now to absorb rainwater, so what’s the difference?
I do not have the details re: safety in front of me right now, but I did hear many of them presented at a meeting last Fall. Off the top of my head, I recall:
— A detailed Agreement would be put in place beforehand, with neighborhood/village input, outlining things like:
— Timing of trucks and deliveries only outside of school and walking hours
— Timing of excessively loud demolition for after school hours.
— Noise reducing fencing between site and school
— Security background checks for all construction people working on site
— No parking allowed by workers in the neighborhood.
— Regular testing of air quality and noise levels, and adjustments made to the work to change if needed
And I beg to differ, but you do NOT know for a fact that your insurance company will not pay for your care in the new Valley rooms. The current rooms at Valley do not meet the standards MANDATED by the State of New Jersey for new hospitals. ALL new hospitals being built will have these types of single/total-care rooms. Eventually, it’s what ALL hospitals will be. Actually, as these types of rooms are being proven to provide better care, fewer complications, and in many cases reduce the time spent in the hospital, you can be sure that the insurance companies will embrace them. Old-style hospitals like Valley will end up providing a lower quality of care, at potentially higher cost…wonder what your insurance company will think about that? I don’t.
>To 12:15— for an ordinary citizen who lives just two blocks from valley you certainly have an educated spin on Valley…where did you learn so much about hospital workings…. maybe you should see if they need your help? seems to me you are not as objective as you state
>I am being completely honest here…I have nothing to do with Valley. I attended two meetings where Valley presented this info — one was at the Federated HSA meeting and one was at a meeting where various parents, teachers and administrators were invited to hear the proposal and ask questions. I also pay close attention to the mailings and such. I’m self-employed and have time to waste doing research. 🙂 Finally, I have a relative who works as a nurse in another state, so I have heard some about hospital care.
Believe me, I think Valley has done a terrible job of communicating on this…it is a shame, because I think 80% of the objections could have been handled if they were just addressed properly. Now everyone has to spend time and energy chasing down rumors and misinformation.
>12:15 is way not only way too educated on the Valley spin, but also has an incredible memory – off the top of (her) head?
If this was presented last fall to whom? Where is it written down? It is not in the documents presented to the planning board that are on the renewal web site? Even if you did hear it said – it’s all words – all that matters are the formal agreements that are made – contracts with penalty clauses etc. with full public transparency.
I am also sure the immediate neighbors will be happy to learn that “timing of excessively loud demolition for after school hours.”
>My guess is that 12:15 is none other than LG who accused her neighbors (who still have real concerns) of being NIMBYs – you can not have it both ways. If you believe people are uninformed then do not make personal attacks, help people put pressure on the hospital to do a better job of providing the full details.
>Valley Hospital is showing poor form by not being a good neighbor in a residental neighborhood. It should not be allowed to expand upward any more floors. The houses were here long before Valley.
Does anyone in authority in Ridgewood have the guts to say “NO” to Valley’s upward and outward expansion?
>Hey 3 pm Valley Lackey- aka Megan-
Allow ME to clarify a few things for YOU:
1- We sure as heck DO kow what OUR insurance will and WILL NOT pay for- all it takes is an educated call to the provider to lay out pland and %’s of payment- just because they won’t discuss the individual fee charts of a specific hospital DOES NOT mean that they will not lay out %’s and co-pays for private vs. semi private rooms- so do me a favor and don’t insult my intelligence
2- Visual space is what is viewed from the street level- ie what you see when you look up- right now its not bad- build you 80ft. monstrosity and it will look like $%#@!!
3-“A reduction in house values of the surrounding neighborhoods…”
ABSOLUTELY a giver- as per VALLEY’S own REALTORS! Maybe you need to give them a call!
4- “Possible road widening creating safety and traffic issues…”
Road widening is not part of the plan.
Maybe you can’t read but IT IS a PART OF THE PLAN- I will not dignify your lack of knowledge with specific pages- go to town hall or dig though your desk to find the writing that is on the wall.
5- — Regular testing of air quality and noise levels, and adjustments made to the work to change if needed
So I guess you at Valley will fix the problem AFTER my family inhales the lead and other contaminents- THANK YOU so much!!! Where do I sugn up!?
6- Timing of excessively loud demolition for after school hours.
So I guess the BOE is changing school hours this year because last I read 7:30-3:30 is SCHOOL TIME!!
Please do NOT insult our intelligence by continuing your Valley Jargon here- save it for your meetings with Audrey.
>Maybe Valley’s lackeys also forgot that LAST TIME they came to the board they said- this is the LAST TIME- but now “well, we need to keep up with the times” and EXPAND- where is the trust? It’s in the same place as my feelings for this out-of-control hospital- the toilet.
>Hey Valley Supporter- if you are so adamant about NOT being a Valley Lackey why don’t you strap on a pair and identify yoursef- not quite up for that huh?
2 blocks away.. hmm… sounds like valley girl!
>12:15 Megan F- dont you live 2 blocks away? ummmm how coincidental. And such a great memory from a presentation from last September by your boss. Ummm…..You even criticize yourself on the quality of PR blitz by you and your employer to throw people off in thinking it is not you.
Please, you site Valley meeting with all these HSA invited guests, YOUR HOSPITAL HAS HAD presentations for the planning board on 4 occassions, BUT NO FORMAL OR PLANNED MEETING TO INVITE OR REACH OUT TO THE VERY RESIDENTS IT AFFECTS -YOUR NEIGHBORS WITHIN 200 FT- WHO YOU ALREADY HAVE IMPOSED UNDO STRESS ON WITH REGARDS TO THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE IF YOUR PROPOSAL IS APPROVED.
>you people are so stupid. At lease you have a hospital in your own town! What if you lived in these towns far away like Ramsey or Mahwah or even Oakland. Hince Valley should expand and be glad if you or someone you know is having a life threatening problem, your just seconds away from Valley besides being 10 or even 15 away.
>The info was indeed presented last Fall and I already said “to whom.” I don’t know why it isn’t written down. I took notes. And I wasn’t the only one there. I’m not making personal attacks…who did I attack? I simply rebutted some of the concerns, point by point. I’m just trying to give a different perspective. Yes, I do think people are uninformed…hence my attempts at “informing.” And you don’t know what I’ve done to help “put pressure on the hospital to do a better job of providing the full details.” I do what I can.
>10:13 PM posts: “At lease you have a hospital in your own town! What if you lived in these towns far away like Ramsey or Mahwah or even Oakland. “
You also forgot to mention all those people who live far away in Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut who come to Valley Hospital. They’ll drive 1 or 2 HOURS to get here.
How far do you drive to get to Valley Hospital?
>I suppose 10:13 p.m. if you have a life threatening problem and live more than seconds away from Valley Hospital then you will most likely arrive DOA.
>If the number of beds will increase by only 3, what is all the extra floor space for? Will the outpatient/day services increase? Who will be parking in all the new spaces?
Being the biggest is not the best in healthcare. Hospitals need to specialize and become expert in one or more areas. When you think of cancer you think of Sloane-Kettering. For joint replacement The Hospital for Special Surgery. If my son or daughter were seriously ill I would go to Boston. For ER or maternity (!) I would go to Valley. We all have favorites. The expansion will not change where I go for healthcare services. What are they planning to do with the new space? What will be the next service that I hear advertised on Newsradio 88?
>If people don’t have a hospital in their town then they can move to a town with a hospital. By the looks of all the “For Sale” signs in Ridgewood, we have openings. Come on down!
>What really “sickens” me is Valley Hospital’s website. They have a heading, “Valley’s Plan to Meet the Community’s Future Healthcare Needs.”
Who are they trying to kid? They want to meet the “TRI-STATE COMMUNITIES'” healthcare needs.
Valley Hospital is nothing more than a LEECH — they will bleed us dry. They are a CANCER — ever growing and killing our once beautiful village.
>Article today in The Record about Pascack Valley’s battle with bankruptcy…why not buy PVH and drop the land grab proceedings in RW…?
>Great idea 7:09 AM! Then Valley Hospital could have two locations to serve patients better.
>Pascack got themselves into trouble spending $80 million on a four story building – and Valley wants to spend $750 million on 3 four story buildings – Hmmm? Purhaps someone should wake-up the snoozing Valley Board of Trustee’s and tell call-off the VGs (Valley Girls)?
>Valley Hospital might best serve the residents of Ridgewood by specializing in implants (breast and penile).
>Looks like Valley Hospital already specializes in lobotomies of their own hospital administrators.
>Audrey Meyers’ megabucks ads make me want to vomit. I’ve lived in Ridgewood longer than her 27 years and all I can say is shame on Audrey Meyers for selling out our village.
Meyers says while the new expansion will only be 4 stories above grade, it is being requested that the height of the building be raised a modest 8 feet + an additional modest 7 feet for meachnical equipment on top of the building. The structure will then be 15 FEET HIGHER!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME, AUDREY? THIS IS NOT A “MODEST INCREASE IN HEIGHT.”
YOU’RE A SELL-OUT AUDREY.
>What’s the going salary rate these days for a Valley Hospital President & CEO to sell out her village?
>GREAT IDEA
Sure, now while you’re having your heart attack you can wait for the PD then the parameds and then the amblu. to take you to –get this– your choice of the one remaining good hosp. that you could get to before you have brain damage or die.
Or your kid gets beaned playing ball the the horse farm and needs to get to the hosp. fast. Well he’s out of luck–17 is packed Bergen College just let out and PVH is broke and not taking head trama.
Besides Valley’s cardi care unit would have been on the 20th floor anyway, quite a walk.
>You’re such a catastrophist 11:30 AM. Do you plan your whole life around a hospital visit?
It’s truly amazing that people who live out in the country all across our nation aren’t dropping like flies. How do they manage to stay alive when they get injured?
>12:02
The people in the country have a better lifestyle –eat better–less stress–more exersise. Less dying. But how do you know this statistic? Lucky guess?
Besides these areas all have local clinics sponsored by hospitals in the area.
Our son lives in the midwest with just this problem. the nearest hospital is 30-40 miles away. But he has 3 local clinics that can and do lifesaving work.
The population of this area is 10 times that of country folks.
Clinics may not work here just because of the volume of cases per day.
Ask someone that lives around Valley how many ambulances drive into the ER every day. You’ll be amazed.
>12:02
Maybe 40-60 a day around the clock.
it seems to slow down around 10PM and pick up about 5:30AM.
>hey 12:32 ambulances? wanna know that the fire dept comes at least once a week… mostly for false alarms…. oh and how about hazardous waste…. the hospital sends out it staff every now and then to check cause there garbage comes on ridgewood’s streets… they are all dressed in white and have similar pooper-scooper pick-up devices…. and valley pays for nothing…..
>1:32
This is where the town needs to step up to the plate and say ” start paying for services” the free ride is over.
Time to give back.
Here’s a question I don’t know the answer.
Are OUR water bills linked to sewerage or is it in the taxes.
See where I’m going here.
I’m sure Valley has lots of waste water. How do they pay for the treatment service? Water bill or not at all.
>Just what does Valley Hospital do to pay back the community of Ridgewood? The only thing I can think of is their name on scoreboards. Pretty pathetic to say the least.
>40-60 ambulance visits to Valley a day — how many are Ridgewood residents?
Valley is not always here for our community. They are too busy being “here” for surrounding communities as far away as upstate NY, Connecticut, and the Poconos in Pennsylvania. I have known Ridgewood residents who had to seek medical care elsewhere (Hackensack, St. Joseph’s and Englewood Hospital) because Valley was filled up with out-of-towners.
And now Audrey Meyers’ Valley Hospital now wants to make themselves even more desirable for the out-of-staters.
>12:32- If you think a clinic can give “lifesaving care” you are about as well educated as our TERc math students.
Valley is what it is- a community hospital that does not need to get any bigger than it alreay is. Peroid. You want high level care go to NYC or anoy other other major city hospital.
>According the Valley Hospital’s website, “Valley is the second busiest hospital in the state of New Jersey, based on admissions.”
The way they keep expanding, they should reach #1 soon. Yeahhhhhhh!
>A neighbor who is a nurse at Valley Hospital was mentioning to me that Valley should move their out-patient facilities off-campus to Paramus. An example she gave was the Breast Center.
>question. is valley a supposed ‘non-profit’ and therefore exempt from property taxes? like a church?
>Will all the people who have signed petitions to stop the plans to bring Valley’s zoning in conformance with other similar hospital facilities in the state also sign an agreement to waive their right to receive medical treatment at Valley? Doubtful!
The people who oppose this sensible and necessary plan want all the best services. Yet, they are unwilling to pay for it or allow the hospital to retain its position as one of the finest medical care facilities in the area…which, by the way, is why it attracts some of the finest doctors in the NJ/NY area.
If you oppose this plan, be prepared for the long-term consequences of gradually deteriorating medical service. Why don’t you people wake up and stop being so selfish and narrow minded?
>Well, 9:20 AM, aren’t you just full of sunshine today. You seem to be a wee bit of a catastrophist … probably a hypochondriac, too. You probably live nowhere near the hospital. Actually, I think you sound selfish and narrow-minded.
>Why would one need to sign an agreement to waive his or her rights to medical treatment at Valley? That is one of the dumbest posts I have read on this site.
Is there something currently wrong with the medical care at Valley that only an expansion will cure? If so, with such inadequate facilities, Valley should cease advertising its services since it is unable to provide the kind of care that it promises.
Why does a community hospital need anything more than a maternity ward and an ER? If you need speciality care, go to NYC or elsewhere.
>Can someone explain why Valley does not pay taxes?
>Hey, I live on the west side and don’t want this expansion.
It will bring down the property values near the hospital, that’s a given. Having a lower valued area like that will bring down the town as a hole.
East Side, West Side, who wants this other than valley and it’s employees?