Nine new satellite emergency departments have been proposed by CarePoint Health for various locations in northern New Jersey, according to a CarePoint presentation to the state that was reported last week.
CarePoint Health has applied with the state Department of Health to open facilities in Hudson County, Bergen County, and Passaic County.
CarePoint made a 40-page presentation in hopes of placing satellite departments in Jersey City (one on the downtown waterfront and one in Greenville), Union City, Edgewater, North Bergen, Palisades Park, Carlstadt, Lodi, and Clifton.
According to the document, the satellite emergency departments will increase population access to ERs, relieve overcrowding of existing ERs, reduce costs, and allow the area to address the increased need of ERs because of an increase in elderly population.
The planned CarePoint ER would be on Warren Street and Kellogg Street in Jersey City, 56th Street in Union City, and on River Road in North Bergen.
A letter at the end of the presentation from Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Kirat Kharode addressed to Cathleen Bennet, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health, states the need for the departments.
“The need for emergency care in these communities is based on a diverse range of factors, including the overutilization of hospital based emergency rooms, population growth, low socioeconomic status and an increasingly aging population,” wrote Kharode. “By creating additional access points to emergency care, patients in the target communities will have the opportunity to obtain necessary emergency care in a timely manner.”