{"id":397867,"date":"2026-01-09T20:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/397867\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T20:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:25:15","slug":"n-j-approves-monmouth-medical-center-move-to-tinton-falls-with-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/397867\/","title":{"rendered":"N.J. approves Monmouth Medical Center move to Tinton Falls \u2014 with conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

A controversial plan to relocate many<\/a> of Monmouth Medical Center\u2019s services from Long Branch to a new hospital in Tinton Falls has been approved, but a state agreement with RWJBarnabas Health will preserve key services in Long Branch.<\/p>\n

The agreement was announced Thursday by Congressman Frank Pallone (D-6), who has been one of the project\u2019s biggest adversaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the state commissioner of health approved RWJ Barnabas\u2019s application for a new hospital in Tinton Falls, they also required that the emergency department and outpatient surgery services, including specialty clinics and imaging services remain in Long Branch indefinitely,\u201d Pallone said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, the behavioral health hospital with both inpatient and outpatient services stays,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Last month, the State Health Planning Board voted unanimously in favor of the state Department of Health\u2019s recommendation to approve a Certificate of Need application to relocate Monmouth Medical Center\u2019s labor and delivery, surgical care, pediatrics and other services to a new $800 million medical facility<\/a> on the Vogel Medical Campus in Tinton Falls.<\/p>\n

The new facility is scheduled to open in 2032 with hospital officials saying they expect to move into the design phase in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this period, we will continue to make significant investments to modernize facilities and maintain essential health services at our Long Branch campus,\u201d Monmouth Medical Center President and CEO Eric Carney said. \u201cWe look forward to continuing to work with state and local officials and keeping our patients and communities informed at every stage of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the New Jersey Department of Health also gave the plan its blessing, but state and hospital officials also worked out their deal to keep some services in Long Branch.<\/p>\n

Pallone said he helped craft legislation that would establish a pilot program at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.<\/p>\n

This would allow RWJBarnabas Health to operate acute-care hospital services at both Monmouth Medical Center Hospital in Long Branch and the proposed facility in Tinton Falls for at least 10 years after relocation and give the Commissioner of Health the option to extend the pilot program further, he said. <\/p>\n

Under the proposed framework, the Long Branch hospital would retain 48 surgical and observation beds, with up to 12 beds convertible to intensive care use, the congressman said. Operating rooms for major surgery would also continue. The hospital would retain a full-service emergency department. <\/p>\n

To ensure continued community engagement, the Department of Health is requiring Monmouth Medical Center to create a Community Advisory Group that provides input to the hospital\u2019s leadership. The Community Advisory Group will include local mayors, patient care advocates, local public health officials, clinical practitioners, labor union officials, and community advocates. Additionally, RWJ Barnabas Health will be required to provide no-cost ground transportation between the two campuses for patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department\u2019s decision was firmly rooted in enhancing public health services and outcomes for the hospital\u2019s entire service area,\u201d said Spokeswoman Dalya Ewais in a statement late Thursday. \u201cNJDOH will continue to support initiatives that facilitate greater access to health care services for the residents of Long Branch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pallone said the legislation is moving through the state Senate and Assembly, which he hopes will pass before the current state legislative session ends. <\/p>\n

\u201cRWJBarnabas Health remains steadfast in its commitment to transforming health care throughout Monmouth County,\u201d RWJBarnabas Health Executive Vice President George Helmy said in a statement. \u201cThis includes our promise to maintaining essential services in Long Branch and developing world-class facilities at the Vogel Medical Campus in Tinton Falls. This has always been our mission, and we have never wavered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public hearings in November and early December drew hundreds of people<\/a> with mixed opinions on the relocation. Those in support complained about aging infrastructure at Monmouth Medical Center and highlighted the need for additional space and new technology.<\/p>\n

Opponents raised concerns about accessibility and how the move would impact other hospitals in the region, such as Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune City, Ocean University Medical Center in Brick and Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A controversial plan to relocate many of Monmouth Medical Center\u2019s services from Long Branch to a new hospital…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":{"0":"post-397867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}