If Lawrence opposition continues, CHS may try to move to a Hopewell Township site instead
By John Tredrea
Capital Health System (CHS) has been cleared by the state to relocate from Trenton to Lawrence Township, but may try for Hopewell Township instead, if Lawrence officials continue their opposition to having the hospital in their town.
On Nov. 29, state Commissioner of Health Fred Jacobs approved CHS’ certificate of need application. The approval means CHS can leave Bellevue Avenue in Trenton, where it has had a hospital since 1929, and move into a 320-bed hospital CHS would build on land it owns on Princess Road in Lawrence.
For months, Lawrence officials have been opposed to construction of the hospital on Princess Road. If that opposition continues, CHS may try to move to a Hopewell Township site instead. That site is on Merrill Lynch land off Scotch Road, between I-95 and Route 546.
Dennis Dooley, CHS vice president for planning and development, said Monday afternoon that he expects to meet with Lawrence officials soon, now that Commissioner Jacobs has issued his approval.
"We want to discuss the Princeton Road site with Lawrence and, if that is problematical, discuss what other sites in Lawrence might be acceptable," Mr. Dooley said. "If Lawrence continues to be squarely against having our facility in their township, we’d then have to look at alternate sites. We have talked to Merrill Lynch and Hopewell Township officials about locating on Merrill’s land there."
Hopewell Township Mayor Vanessa Sandom said Monday, "We haven’t heard anything from Capital Health since they obtained their certificate of need. We’re in a waiting situation right now."
The certificate-of-need approval was specific to the Princess Road site. Mr. Dooley was confident, however, that another site could be substituted without applying for another certificate of need.
State law allows such a substitution, provided the new site is in the same county as the one to be scrapped and provided the new site does not substantially change the reasons for which the certificate of need was applied for in the first place, he said. "So we don’t anticipate that this (changing sites) will be much of a problem if that’s the avenue we choose to pursue," he said.
State Sen. Shirley Turner and Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman criticized Commissioner Jacob’s decision.
"The relocation . . . will most certainly come at the loss of the residents of Trenton," said Sen. Turner. "Our Trenton community needs better access to health care, but instead they are left holding the short straw."
"This decision is inconsistent with the governor’s stated goal of improving the delivery of heath care in urban areas," Ms. Watson Coleman said.
A condition of Commissioner Jacobs’ approval is that CHS must operate, for at least three years after leaving Trenton, a round-the-clock emergency satellite department at its current Trenton site. CHS also would have to implement a transportation service for Trenton residents who would use the Princess Road hospital.
Traffic impact of the proposed hospital has been a key concern of Lawrence officials. Mr. Dooley said an estimated 6,620 vehicles would drive in and out of the Princess Road hospital if it were built.
"The thing that’s important to understand is that traffic for the hospital is spread over three working shifts, and shift changes are typically not made at peak traffic hours," he said.
Township Mayor Sandom said no zoning change would be needed for CHS to build a 320-bed hospital on the east side of Scotch Road, where 5,000 employees of Merrill Lynch now work. About 9,000 more people can work on Merrill’s land on the east side of Scotch Road, under Merrill’s 1998 approval from Hopewell Township.
As a nonprofit, the hospital would pay no property taxes. However, if a health- care village were built adjacent to the hospital an idea Mr. Dooley said CHS is considering the village would pay taxes. The village could include assisted living facilities, a nursing home and age-restricted housing.
In its application for the now-approved certificate of need, CHS said the days when Trenton can support three hospitals are numbered because an increasing number of patients prefer going to suburban hospitals. There are two other hospitals in the city St. Francis Medical Center and the Capital Health System’s Fuld Campus..
Lawrence Ledger Staff Writer Lea Kahn contributed to this report.

