Westwood Hospital Renovations 90 Percent Complete

HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley CEO Chad Melton said he expects the hospital to take its first patient June 1.

Officials at HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley expect to take their first patient June 1, according to CEO Chad Melton. Melton told Patch Tuesday that renovations to the former Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood are about 90 percent complete and they hope to have a certificate of occupancy for the whole building within the next month and have a license by April. The renovations will make the hospital an all around more comfortable place for patients than the Pascack Valley Hospital was, Melton said. The old pea green walls have been repainted white or other bright colors. Furniture in work areas is designed to dampen sound so it will not bother patients. The new layout will also be easier for guests to navigate, Melton said. "I have no …

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One-Pound Baby Fighting for Future

An anonymous friend set up a fundraiser for 'Miracle Baby' Mason, who was born 15 weeks premature.

As two Mahwah families are watching a premature baby fight for his life, an anonymous friend started a fundraiser to help pay for the child’s treatment and ongoing care at Valley Hospital. Mason DiGiulio, whose mom grew up in Mahwah before recently moving to Saddle Brook, was born at 5:33 a.m. on Jan. 13. Mason was born extremely premature at only 25 weeks. At birth, he weighed one pond, seven ounces. “He had just passed the critical point [of development],” his mom MaryBeth Burris DiGiulio said. “I had done all of the pre-pregnancy stuff, and everything was going well. But then [on Friday, Jan. 11] my water broke. They did everything they could to stop the labor but Mason wasn’t having that.” DiGiulio also said she has a history of having…

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Flu Epidemic Forced Valley to Declare 'Divert Status'

Ambulances were asked to "consider transporting patients" elsewhere due to the increased patient volume at the Ridgewood hospital's emergency room. The divert status has since been lifted.

Update at 2:17 p.m. The divert status was lifted Tuesday at noon, according to spokeswoman Maureen Curran Kleinman A significant increase in flu-stricken patients at its emergency room forced Valley Hospital to declare a temporary "divert" status on Tuesday. "This means that area emergency medical service units are asked to use their judgment and consider transporting patients in ambulances elsewhere," Valley spokeswoman Maureen Curran Kleinman said Tuesday afternoon in an e-mail to Patch. The hospital declared the status in the early morning hours of Tuesday as a result of crowding in its ER due to the flu. Occupancy at the emergency room is about 15 percent higher than normal, Curran Kleinman said. Patients who arrive on their own were …

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Valley Donates $500K to Ridgewood Schools

Hospital funding a variety of health-related initiatives over the next five years.

Ridgewood schools received a financial boost a few weeks ago when Valley Hospital pledged to donate $500,000 over the next five years toward health education initiatives. According to a joint press release issued by the two institutions, the donation will go toward health education, fitness and wellness and disease prevention programs for students, faculty and parents.  "Examples to be considered include adolescent health and wellness education, diabetes education, injury prevention, and nutrition," the statement reads. Valley Hospital CEO Audrey Meyers, who was at the school board meeting Monday to formalize the agreement, said Valley has a "long history of supporting" Ridgewood students. "Examples include past sponsorships of annual …

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Valley Hospital, Christian Health Care Form New Hospice Program

The program offers inpatient hospice care for end-of-life patients when home-based hospice care is not an option.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Monday afternoon to commemorate a venture between The Christian Health Care Center in Wyckoff and Valley Hospice, a division of Valley Home Care. The Valley Hospice program offers a specialized inpatient hospice unit for end-of-life patients for whom home-based hospice care is not an option, according to CHCC Marketing Director Melanie Anthony. A designated nursing unit at CHCC offers patients compassionate round-the-clock care by a team of Valley Hospice and CHCC caregivers, she said. The ceremony was held at the entrance of the unit and was attended by local dignitaries, including Congressman Scott Garrett and Wyckoff Mayor Christopher DePhillips and CHCC President and CEO Doug Struyk. “I want to thank …

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Division Street: The Valley Hospital Expansion Project

Little Movement on Valley Hospital Expansion Front

Mayor Paul Aronsohn says he's had informal talks with Valley Hospital's CEO as well as opposition group Concerned Residents of Ridgewood, but knows of no formal expansion plans.

Little has changed with Valley Hospital's expansion efforts since the previous village council in 2011 unanimously voted down its controversial 'Renewal' proposal that called for a doubling of the hospital's facilities. Mayor Paul Aronsohn, questioned by residents over the last two weeks, said he's had informal talks with Valley Hospital CEO Audrey Meyers in recent months but said a range of topics were discussed. He told resident Roger Wiegand Wednesday night that he was not aware of any future expansion plans. The mayor said he had also met with representatives of Concerned Residents of Ridgewood (CRR), the group that has formally opposed the hospital's $750 million growth plans. CRR begrudgingly endorsed Aronsohn in the May election …

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Valley Hospital: We Never Used Product, Vendor Linked to Meningitis Outbreak

A Massachusetts compounding company is believed to be responsible for producing a tainted steroid used for back pain that might be responsible for eight deaths nationwide.

Patients who received an epidural steroid from Valley Hospital need not worry there's a link to the deadly outbreak of meningitis, according to the hospital. "As concern grows about contaminated spinal injections for back pain that have been tied to a fungal meningitis outbreak, we want to reassure our patients that neither The Valley Hospital nor the Valley Institute for Pain have ever used the product or vendor implicated in the outbreak," the hospital said Tuesday. Eleven people have died and 119 cases of fungal meningitis have been linked to a steroid injection used to treat back pain, the CDC said Tuesday. An estimated 13,000 people in 23 states could be exposed to the deadly infection, according to Reuters. Thus far, confirmed cases …

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Valley Hospital Again Challenges Approval of Westwood Hospital

The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center are appealing the state health commissioner's approval of HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley.

The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center appeared in court Monday to ask a three-judge panel to make State Health Commissioner Mary O'Dowd reconsider her approval of HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley, according to a report on NorthJersey.com. O'Dowd approved the plan to reopen the former Pascack Valley Hospital in February following a recommendation from the State Health Planning Board last November. An attorney for Valley said he believed O'Dowd had considered HUMC's needs, but not the area's needs when she approved the plan, according to the report. Valley and Englewood have continuously fought against HUMC and their partner, LHP Hospital Group, but courts have repeatedly decided in favor of the Westwood …

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Honduran Man Receives 'Gift of Life' From Valley Hospital

Dr. Mariano E. Brizzio, a surgeon at Valley Hospital, performed a pro-bono, life-saving cardiac operation that saved the life of a Honduran teacher.

The following news release was sent by The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. At age 34, Oscar Rivera was well acquainted with physical challenges. Born prematurely with severe congenital defects, he had endured several surgeries over the years to correct potentially life-threatening disorders. But nothing had prepared him for the news that he had a serious and complicated heart abnormality that could prove fatal if not immediately corrected. One day, while working at his job as a teacher in his home town of Comayagua, Honduras, Oscar lost consciousness going up some stairs. At the urging of his wife, Claudia, he went to his local doctor, who immediately sent him to a specialist in Honduras’ capitol city of Tegucigalpa. After several extensive …

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Brain Cancer Vaccine Being Tested at Valley Hospital

Researchers working on a "breakthrough" vaccine they believe could offer more time for those with brain cancer.