Westwood Hospital Appoints New CEO

HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley will be run by new CEO Chad Melton, according to a hospital spokesperson.

Melton, who has a Masters in Health Administration from Texas State University, will immediately be responsible for hiring personnel and other start-up planning for the hospital, as well as running day-to-day operations once the hospital opens.

“This is a region that will benefit immensely from having high quality, customer-focused care closer to home, and I look forward to working with HackensackUMC’s leadership team, LHP, the Joint Venture Board of Directors and our physicians to begin integrating services and maintaining the quality standards HackensackUMC is known for," Melton said.

Melton is coming to the hospital from LHP, the Texas-based company which partnered with HUMC to reopen the former Pascack Valley Hospital. He will be working with former CEO Richard Freeman, who was last year and is currently the New Jersey market president for LHP.

“Our work to restore much-needed hospital services to the Pascack and Northern Valley is well underway, and Chad is the ideal leader to ensure we open on time and on budget,” Freeman said.

Many area residents have supported the plan to reopen the hospital since it closed in 2007. State officials in February and in April.

A spokesperson said the hospital is scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2013. HUMC at Pascack Valley will be a 128-bed facility with an obstetrical unit, an intensive and critical care unit, five operating rooms, one special procedure room and a cardiac catheterization laboratory at the site. The emergency room is already open.

HUMC president and CEO Robert Garrett said he believed Melton would help bring the same quality of care available in Hackensack to the Westwood hospital.

"Extraordinary results begin by building an exceptional team," Garrett said.