HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley Opening in Westwood June 1

HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley is set to open June 1, exactly 54 years after the Pascack Valley Hospital first opened in Westwood on June 1, 1959.

While the new hospital will occupy the same space as the former, work has been underway over the past year to renovate the building and update it to improve the experience of patients, according to hospital CEO Chad Melton. More than $147 million has been spent on the renovations and new equipment, hospital officials said. The renovations are now nearly complete.

"It was once a great facility and it will be again," Melton said.

Hackensack University Medical Center President and CEO Robert Garrett called the opening a "historic event," noting that this is the first license New Jersey has granted for a new hospital since the 1980s.

All of HUMC at Pascack Valley's 128 rooms will be private, according to hospital officials. The rooms all feature bathrooms, modern beds which prevent bedsores, personal thermostats, televisions and in-room computers that allow nurses to spend more time with patients and reduce the likelihood of an error being made.

There will be about twice as much medical staff compared to the Pascack Valley Hospital, Melton said.

The hospital also plans to offer free valet parking for visitors and concierge service for patients.

"It really is all about the patient experience," Melton said.

The hospital is co-owned and managed by Hackensack University Medical Center and LHP, a Texas-based company which specializes in hospital operation. LHP will handle the day-to-day management, according to Dan Moen, the company's CEO and president. 

HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley has faced legal challenges from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and the Valley Hospital of Ridgewood, whose leaders have debated the need for another hospital in Bergen County. Moen said he believed the Pascack Valley Hospital's problems were in its management, rather than too much competition.

"We knew that there was a need for this hospital," Moen said.

LHP currently operates five other hospitals and is working with HUMC on another joint venture at the Mountainside Hospital in Montclair. The joint venture model is relatively new to New Jersey, but has been very successful elsewhere, according to Moen.

Garrett, the president and CEO of HUMC, said he believed the partnership would allow them to offer the services like private rooms while maintaining a reasonable cost of care because their size allows them to save money in other areas. The partnerships will also mean financial stability for the hospital, he said.

"With each partnership, we improve patient safety, Garrett said.

Members of the public will be able to get a firsthand look at the hospital's new facilities when they hold an open house May 18.

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