BAYONNE – Bayonne Medical Center and CarePoint Health officially opened the organizations’ new Emergency Department and its $1 million in upgrades with a ribbon-cutting on Nov. 5.
Local and state elected officials, McCabe Ambulance representatives, hospital employees, and others attended.
The major improvements include a new “Fast Track” area to address more routine, outpatient needs and provide rapid diagnosis and care, allowing patients to avoid unnecessary long waiting times, and a rapid-response area for possible cardiac conditions, with faster access to EKG and telemetry services.
CarePoint Health Chief Executive Officer Dennis Kelly said the improvements indicate CarePoint’s investment in its relationship with Bayonne.
“It demonstrates the commitment we have to the city,” he said. “We’re here for the long haul. This isn’t a transparent thing. We expect to be here for decades to come.”
McCabe Ambulance founder Mickey McCabe, whose business has been serving the city for 40-plus years, called it a “momentous occasion.”
Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell said that having a strong hospital and Emergency Department there was important for Bayonne, since in the last 20 years, 30 percent of the ERs in the United States have closed.
“We’re blessed to have one that’s continuing to build and get better,” O’Donnell said. “Without CarePoint, we might not have one.”
CarePoint had purchased the hospital in 2007 when it was on the brink of closing, Kelly said.
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