Hundreds of people gathered in front of tractor trailers, pile drivers, and construction workers at the site of the official groundbreaking for the proposed new Jersey City Medical Center building Monday.
The $200 million project is being funded through tax-exempt bonds issued through the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority. The project received an official green light in December when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s New Jersey office backed the plans with a $172 million loan.
"The Medical Center has always had and continues to have outstanding professionals," said Dr. Jonathan Metsch, president of Liberty Health Care System. "We have developed many new programs to address the needs of our community. And now we will have a first-class home for them as well. And finally, plenty of parking."
For many people, the groundbreaking ceremony represented the end of a 16-year struggle since the state initially issued the required Certificate of Need to build the new hospital. Hospital board members, elected officials, and other parties involved in the project recounted the obstacles at the groundbreaking ceremony.
"The biggest obstacle was near the end when we needed the Federal Loan Guarantee," said Brett Harwood, vice chairman of Liberty Health Care System. "We had to take a break, with the new administration in Washington, and re-introduce it." The project is expected to take two years to complete.
"To those who had this wonderful vision, to those who supported this project, to all members of the Liberty family, to our community – the best is yet to come," Metsch said.
Following a national trend of consolidating resources, Liberty Health Care System formed in 1991, merging the Jersey City Medical Center, the Greenville Hospital, and the Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center. The Jersey City Medical Center gets regional referrals, serving as a Level II trauma center, perinatal center for high-risk infants and mothers, and a teaching cancer hospital.
Since 1808, the center’s mission statement has been to provide quality health care to all Hudson County residents, especially the poor. "The region will soon have a new Medical Center to anchor its health care delivery system," Metsch said. "But our mission is unchanged – access to quality care for whoever needs it, regardless of ability to pay."
In the 1980s, the hospital converted from a public hospital to a for-profit private institution due to financial fallout. Citizens worried that this transition would negatively affect the poor population of Jersey City, but the hospital pledged to continue its equal treatment. Since then, the City Council has placed two members on the board to ensure that the hospital continues to abide by this pledge.
The new 359-bed, 340,000 square foot facility will be located off of Grand Street on Jersey Avenue. Shifting from the existing 22-story structure to seven, the facility will be smaller in height and capacity than the towering complex that has served as the hospital’s home since the Great Depression.
The new facility will also have less space for patients. "We’re not being filled at 600 beds," said Lynn McFarlane, spokesperson for the hospital. "The new hospital configuration is based on projected use."
Until the new waterfront development emerged in the past decade, the 22-story Jersey City Medical Center dominated the city’s landscape. Mayor Glenn Cunningham said the location of the new hospital would continue to benefit the entire city. "It’s an area that’s well-traveled," Cunningham said. "It was almost impossible to park at the other place," he added.
Many Jersey City residents originally worried that the move would cater to the new waterfront development, and neglect the poor population that the hospital has historically served. Harwood said the new location was selected because of its accessibility from all sides of Jersey City, adding that it will be next to a light rail stop.
As to the fate of the existing Jersey City Medical Center at Baldwin Avenue and Montgomery Street, Cunningham said he has no plan yet for the city-owned building. The Board of Education has expressed an interest in the property, Cunningham said, but has not offered a proposal so far. "I’d certainly like to hear what the Board of Ed. has in mind," he said.
Because of that building’s historical importance and grandiose nature, city officials have expressed an interest in keeping it. "It’s a landmark in Jersey City and we want to preserve it," Cunningham said. "We want to see that the building is used for the best possible purpose."
While the building is a landmark, the hospital has outgrown its antiquated architecture and interior design. The new facility promises to be "conceptually inviting," Harwood said.
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