State hearing set on hospital move to Plainsboro

Medical center seeks certificate of need

By: Courtney Gross
   The State Health Planning Board has scheduled a public hearing next week on the University Medical Center at Princeton’s certificate of need application — a meeting that could provide the only opportunity for Princeton-area residents to comment publicly on the state’s consideration of the hospital’s proposed move to Plainsboro.
   Although the medical center’s move from Princeton would also need approval from Plainsboro officials, the state’s OK would signify the first official step in the hospital’s planned relocation.
   The hearing will be held at the John Witherspoon Middle School auditorium 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
   The public is welcome to comment on the application, although oral statements will be limited to three minutes, health department officials said. Written comments will also be accepted Wednesday.
   Pam Hersh, vice president for government and community affairs for the hospital’s parent organization, Princeton HealthCare System, said the public hearing is an important step in the state’s final decision, which ultimately rests with Department of Health and Senior Services Commissioner Dr. Fred M. Jacobs.
   "Since communication (and) dialogue with the elected officials and residents of the various communities we serve over the past few years has played such an important part in UMCP’s decision to move, we welcome the upcoming public hearing as another opportunity to hear from the public," Ms. Hersh said in an e-mail.
   Since the hospital’s application was deemed complete last month, the State Health Planning Board has 90 days to make a recommendation to the commissioner, said Nathan Rudy, a state Health Department spokesman. Within the first 30 days, he added, the board must also hold the public hearing.
   Following the board’s recommendation, the commissioner will have 120 days to make a final decision on the certificate of need application.
   By that timeline, the decision is expected within the first few months of 2007.
   Some of the criteria the department investigates within the application, Mr. Rudy said, are travel times and ensuring the same services are available to the community. At times, he added, the approval may be contingent on expanding services elsewhere.
   "Primarily, the main concern of the department is access to health care," Mr. Rudy said.
   According to the hospital’s certificate of need application, filed in December 2005, a new location is necessary for the medical center to meet increasing demand and keep up with its current quality of service.
   The application states many of the internal systems within the hospital’s 12-acre campus in Princeton are at the end of their useful lives, and replacing them would not be a useful investment if the medical center did not have enough space to meet demand.
   The hospital’s relocation to the FMC Corp. site at the corner of Plainsboro Road and Route 1 would give the medical center an appropriate amount of space to expand as well as construct on-site parking that can meet the demand of staff and patients — a luxury the Princeton campus does not have, the application states.
   With its current volume of service, according to the application, the medical center would have to expand 250,000 square feet at its Witherspoon Street location. Because of a lack of neighborhood support for an expansion, the application said, the medical center sought to relocate the facility elsewhere.
   The proposed medical center site, approximately 3 miles from its current home, would be a 269-bed facility — a decrease of 34 acute-care beds — and is expected to cost more than $300 million, the application states.
   For those unable to make the public hearing, comments can be mailed to New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Office of Boards and Council, Market & Warren Streets, P.O. Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360. Comments are urged to be concise and must be received by the department by Dec. 20.
   Copies of the certificate of need application are available for review at the Princeton Public Library, the New Jersey State Library in Trenton and the offices of the state Department of Health and Senior Services, also in Trenton.