Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Ridgewood mayor says the impending re-opening of Pascack Valley changes the hospital landscape. Valley says an aging population's medical needs will offset patient losses to its Westwood rival.
Despite years of lawsuits and public statements claiming Bergen County is beset with hundreds of unused hospital beds on a nightly basis, Valley Hospital says the reopening of a competitor will not change its own expansion needs. Challenged by Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn over what he called "inconsistencies" in Valley's position on bed needs, the hospital Monday night argued the medical needs of an aging population will offset any losses in market share to 128-bed HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley in Westwood. Citing algebraic projections on demographics, Valley Hospital planning expert John Downes, of Stroudwater Associates, testified that Valley would need to increase its bed count from 451 beds to 485 beds had the Westwood hospital not…
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Engineer hired by Valley says de-watering and excavation will have a minimal impact.
A Valley Hospital engineer told the planning board that the revised expansion proposal would not geologically impact surrounding homes, a major concern residents and officials held during the previous failed expansion proposal. Moustafa Gouda – a geotechnical, hydrological and environmental engineer who has worked on hospital expansions – testified April 16 that the gravel and sand-based soil surrounding the hospital is dense enough to support an expansion that would see Valley's floor space expand more than 60 percent, with buildings reaching 94 feet in height. The Ridgewood Village Council voted unanimously in November of 2011 to kill the previous plan, dubbed "Renewal," citing potential damage to infrastructure and surrounding homes as …
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley is set to open at the former Pascack Valley Hospital June 1.
HackensackUMC at Pasack Valley CEO Chad Melton recently sat down with a crew from WCTV for an interview and took them on a tour of the soon-to-open hospital. The hospital's renovations are "99 percent complete," Melton said in the video on Washington Township's local cable channel. They are scheduled to open June 1. In the video, Melton shows WCTV's crew many of the hospital's new operating rooms, waiting rooms, "Bistro 250" cafe and other renovated areas. As the opening date approaches, hospital officials are planning to hold some celebratory events, including a community day for the public on May 18 and a visit from Governor Chris Christie May 23, Melton said in the video. Melton previously told Patch they are already looking forward to …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Valley lawyer says new plan is smaller, reduces impacts on traffic, level of bedrock drilling. Construction time would also be shortened in "Renewal II", hospital claimed at first planning board hearing.
Valley Hospital on Monday night provided the planning board with the first glimpse of its "slimmed-down" expansion proposal. Although the plans appear quite similar to the "Renewal" proposal approved by the planning board in 2010 but struck down by the council a year later, there are a few notable changes, its attorney testified. The plan "The hospital has listened to what the village council has said and also listened to the expressions of the neighboring objectors," Jonathan Drill told the planning board in the shadow of Valley Hospital, at B.F. Middle School. "And now comes before this board with a modified plan and Master Plan amendment request which responds to the village council's concerns as well as the legitimate concerns of the …
Monday, March 4, 2013
Valley rival seeks three-story addition to one building, and a one-story addition at another.
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Monday, March 4
Not to be outdone by competitors Valley Hospital and Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), Englewood Medical Center has submitted plans to expand. According to a report on northjersey.com, the hospital has submitted plans to the Englewood zoning board to increase the height of its humanistic care center from 30 feet to 87.33 feet. The project aims to move cancer treatment programs into one building, the report said. Another one-story expansion is also proposed for part of the building on Glenwood Road. In addition, the project calls for tearing down an administrative building called North Annex, according to the report. Ten parking spaces would be added. HUMC is finishing its construction work at the revived Pascack Valley …
Sunday, March 3, 2013
The first H-Zone meeting is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Monday, March 11 at B.F.
Valley Hospital will be returning to the planning board to unveil new expansion plans on March 11. According to a report in The Ridgewood News, the first meeting has been set up for 8 p.m. at B.F. Middle School's auditorium. Per the report, public comment will not take place until April 2. In dismissing a lawsuit filed by citizen's opposition group Concerned Residents of Ridgewood (CRR), Superior Court Judge Alexander Carver called for the planning board to reach a decision by the end of June. Preliminary plans submitted by the hospital to the board this week don't appear drastically different from its quashed "Renewal" plan. The hospital seeks to increase its floor space to 910,000 square feet, with increased setbacks on some borders. "…
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Plans show the hospital's expansion aims as smaller overall but not as much as some would have expected. The hospital maintains it will address various concerns.
Valley Hospital's second take at an expansion proposal isn't as ambitious as its controversial first offering, but it does not much appear much different either. According to preliminary plans submitted to the Ridgewood Planning Board on Feb. 25, the hospital has scaled down its proposal from 1.17 million square feet to 910,000 square feet of hospital floor space, still with 454 single-patient rooms. (Ed note: A copy of the plan submitted has been attached to the right of this article.) "It's up to the planning board to decide if it's enough of a compromise, enough of a reduction," said Pete McKenna, head of opposition group Concerned Residents of Ridgewood (CRR). "But it doesn't seem immaterially different to me. It's still about 70-80 …
Monday, February 18, 2013
Valley Hospital will present its new proposed expansion project to the planning board in March.
In fall of 2011, the Ridgewood Village Council unanimously voted down Valley Hospital's $750 million expansion "Renewal" project. If approved, construction on the first phase would have persisted for about seven years. Buildings would have been demolished, and others erected on the 15-acre space, which included all single-occupancy rooms and a 195,000 square foot parking garage. But council members expresed concern over intensity of use, traffic impacts, overall growth, and infrastructure damage to surrounding homes and the village's water system. A last ditch attempt from Valley CEO Audrey Meyers to "compromise" on substantive issues before the vote fell on deaf ears. Valley has returned. In a brief statement to Patch Monday, hospital …
Friday, December 2, 2011
State Health Planning Board on Tuesday voted to recommend reopening; State Health Commissioner has final say
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Village passes resolution affirming last week's statements that the hospital "Renewal" is not right for Ridgewood
Despite another last dash plea from Valley CEO Audrey Meyers, the Ridgewood Village Council effectively killed the planning board's contentious "H-Zone" ordinance that would have allowed the hospital to double in size in an effort to "modernize". In a unanimous vote, the council passed a resolution that stated a wide variety of planning and zoning reasons – including expert testimony heard over the past two months – as to why Valley Hospital should not be granted the "Renewal" expansion. The language of the resolution echoed the council's comments last week – per the resolution, it's an "over-aggressive expansion" proposal that could negatively impact homeowners, strain the village's infrastructure, potentially harm school children nearby …
John Hahn
6:14 pm on Sunday, May 5, 2013
Mikka H. Sorry you do not like my hat. Being fair is a part of being in a community. VH is big and it wants to get bigger. this growth may not be beneficial to the community at large. more ›