In a surprising move, the State Health Planning Board on Thursday deferred a decision regarding the relocation of Monmouth Medical Center’s acute care services from Long Branch to a new hospital at the Vogel Medical Campus in Tinton Falls, approximately 5 miles away.
Officials at Monmouth Medical Center (and its parent company, RWJBarnabas Health) have long explained the benefits of the move while stressing they would not be abandoning Long Branch.
In fact, they will be improving its emergency department and behavioral health services, two areas local residents use the most.
In October, the Department of Health notified RWJBH that the system’s certificate of need application has been deemed complete, allowing the proposed project to move forward to the next phase of the review and approval process. The decision signifies that all required documentation and information for the application have been submitted and accepted for review by the state.
The State Health Planning Board was expected to approve the DOH’s recommendation following a public meeting that lasted much of the day Thursday.
Instead, Michael Kennedy, executive director of the state Department of Health’s Division of Certificate of Need and Licensing, said they were not prepared to take action.
“We need more information on disparities for residents of Long Branch and vulnerable population, and additional information on transportation options to ensure that access to vulnerable populations will be secured,” Kennedy said. “We’d like to see additional information on staffing as it impacts other providers and an extension of maintenance requirements for the services.”
It is unclear how much of a setback this decision is in the process. RWJBarnabas Health certainly will push forward with its proposal.
The system, in a statement released Thursday, said the obvious: It was not pleased with the decision.
“We are extremely disappointed that the State Health Planning Board decided not to act on the positive recommendation of the New Jersey Department of Health to approve Monmouth Medical Center’s Certificate of Need application to build a new, state-of-the-art acute care hospital in Tinton Falls and make significant investments to upgrade and modernize the existing campus in Long Branch,” the statement said.
“We will continue to work through this process and address any additional questions the Board may have. We look forward to sharing more about how our vision for transformative health care will bring world-class care closer to home for more patients by delivering the latest advanced technology, treatments, and innovative academic medicine in new, modern health centers of excellence.”
