A rendering of the new medical pavilion to be built by Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center.

HACKENSACK, NJ—Officials with the Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center unveiled plans on Thursday to build a new 530,000-square-foot state-of-the-art medical pavilion along Second Street here.

Construction on the $714-million project is expected to begin in 2022. The new pavilion that will total 438,000 square feet of usable space will feature nine floors of cutting-edge technology and a design to provide patients and families with world-class acute care, while enhancing comfort and privacy, Hackensack Meridian states.

“This large-scale, innovative project will truly transform the Hackensack University Medical Center campus, preparing us to effectively meet the growing needs of our patients and the communities we serve,” says Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. “As Bergen County's first hospital and the largest provider of inpatient and outpatient services in the state, Hackensack University Medical Center has always been setting the standard for excellence in health care. This is a major investment to elevate our best-in-class health care services and modernize our facilities to ensure we are providing patients the world-class, cutting-edge care they deserve.”

Hackensack University Medical Center is the primary teaching site for the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University. Hackensack University Medical Center's renovation, expansion and modernization plans will ensure its campus will be able to accommodate the growing needs of the region and continue operating at the highest standards. The new pavilion, which spans Second Street, will become the largest building on campus.

Hackensack University Medical Center is prioritizing the enhancement of the patient experience and states that it will privatize and modernize all of its patient rooms over the next 10 years. The new pavilion is the first step in that process and will feature 24 new operating rooms, new and improved Intensive Care Unit beds, as well as three floors of private patient rooms. In addition, the building will include: a new Second Street entrance/visitor lobby, a visitor center, a new central sterile processing department, 24 operating rooms including an intraoperative MRI, 50 ICU beds, shell space for an additional 25 ICUs, 100 medical-surgical beds and a 50 bed Orthopedic Institute.

Gordon N. Litwin, Esq., chair, Hackensack Meridian Health Board of Trustees, says, “This new pavilion will provide an enhanced patient experience, while preserving the privacy, respect and dignity our patients and families deserve. Our patients are at the heart of the work we do, and we will continue to pursue groundbreaking initiatives that advance the network's world-class, patient- and family-centered care well into the future.”

RSC Architects of Hackensack is the lead architect and is partnered with EYP Architects of Houston. Stantec Consulting is providing project management services/owner's representative services for the overall project. The W.M. Blanchard and Turner Construction Company have created a joint venture to provide construction management services for the project.

Hackensack University Medical Center is the largest employer in Bergen County with more than 8,000 employees. It will continue to maintain 781 beds even after the new pavilion project is completed.

Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers—Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals: Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals: Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, and Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood; a behavioral health hospital – Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals – JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

The network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout New Jersey, which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations.

Instant Insights /

Hackensack Meridian Health to Build $714M Medical Pavilion

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