Hospital move to Plainsboro supported, but with conditions

Health Commission wants assurances that the uninsured and underinsured will be served

By: Courtney Gross
   In preparation for the University Medical Center at Princeton’s certificate of need hearing before the State Health Planning Board, the Princeton Regional Health Commission has submitted a letter supporting the hospital’s move, but proposing conditions for its approval.
   At its meeting Tuesday evening, the commission unanimously endorsed the letter signed by Chairwoman Susan Goldman Kapoor after making minor revisions.
   The letter outlines four statements regarding the hospital’s move — some that recognize the limits of the hospital’s current facility — and lays out five conditions that according to the commission would increase access and outreach to Princeton’s uninsured and underinsured populations.
   Many of the conditions medical center representatives have already agreed to and recognize as part of their plan to relocate to a site on Plainsboro Road and Route 1 in Plainsboro — a proposal that is awaiting a recommendation from the State Health Planning Board followed by a final OK by the state Department of Health and Senior Services Commissioner Dr. Fred M. Jacobs.
   The state approval could occur as soon as the beginning of January, but the plan still requires approvals from Plainsboro.
   The commission’s conditions apply primarily to the hospital’s clinic — a facility that provides medical care to the uninsured and underinsured — that is moving along with the hospital’s main campus.
   A task force had been formed to study if a satellite clinic location should remain in Princeton to serve those who would not be able to get to the new Plainsboro location. That task force found there was not a substantial number of Princeton residents who accessed the clinic by bicycling or walking only.
   But township, borough and hospital officials have agreed that transportation will be provided by the medical center to those who could not access the new clinic location in Plainsboro by any other means.
   "The Princeton Regional Health Commission recognizes the limits of the current building occupied by (the medical center) and, for that reason, supports (the) building of a new hospital," the letter states.
   It continues, "The current clinic services offered by (the hospital) are vital for the well-being of this community; a decrease in access to and provision of these services will have a serious negative effect on the public health of the Princeton community."
   To ensure services to this population remains, the commission is urging the state to approve the hospital’s certificate of need conditionally.
   Among the conditions are that the hospital provide "no-cost" transportation services to Princeton clinic patients; health education at an accessible location; and an outreach campaign on its new clinic services following the move to Plainsboro.
   The medical center has agreed to keep an information center at its present site following the move.
   Another condition recommended by the Health Commission encourages the state Department of Transportation to change traffic conditions near the Route 1 corridor in order to improve the accessibility of emergency vehicles.
   The hospital’s move has been applauded by most township and borough officials, unlike the recently approved relocation of the Capital Health System at Mercer campus in Trenton to a new site in Lawrence. That application was strongly criticized by Lawrence and Trenton officials.
   At a recent public hearing before members of the state board, Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand, Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman and West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh all supported the medical center’s move.
   The State Health Planning Board’s meeting on the medical center’s certificate of need application is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Jan. 4 at a Department of Health and Senior Services facility in the Suburban Square Shopping Center, 25 Scotch Road, Ewing.