PLAINSBORO: University Medical Center cleared to build

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
   PLAINSBORO — With all necessary township approvals secured, construction on the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro is set to begin next month, officials announced Thursday.
   Ground was broken last fall on the hospital, located on 50 acres of a 160-acre site on Route 1 between Scudders Mill Road and Plainsboro Road. The 636,000-square-foot facility is scheduled for completion in late 2011.
   At their meeting Wednesday night, Township Committee members agreed on the terms and condition of the hospital’s bond, allowing it to move forward, township Mayor Peter Cantu said. It will be formally reviewed by resolution at the next meeting, he said.
   The hospital requested that the township reduce the private portion of its bond request, he said, which the committee agreed to because of its status as a nonprofit, regional facility.
   ”We thought it was appropriate to provide some flexibility,” he said.
   On Monday, heavy machinery was brought onto the site to implement earth stabilization and the soil erosion prevention, according to the press release.
   Excavation for the foundation will begin in about three weeks, according to the release. The steel, which is now being fabricated off site, will go up in late spring.
   The past few months have been spent completing construction documents, demolishing existing structures, relocating utilities and doing other site preparation work, according to the release.
   The new hospital complex, which will replace the medical center’s longtime home on Witherspoon Street in Princeton, will have 238 single-bed patient rooms, technologically advanced operating suites, patient rooms, treatment areas and an emergency services department twice the size of the current ER.
   According to the UMCP release, the facility has been designed to accommodate a future expansion of one-third, after its completion in 2011. Additional facilities on the Plainsboro site include a medical office building, education center, nursing and rehabilitation center, and pediatric services center.
   The medical office building, also to open in 2011, will be a 120,000-square- foot structure, connected to the hospital.
   The nursing and rehabilitation center, which will replace Merwick Care Center on Bayard Lane in Princeton, will be twice the size of the current facility and is expected to open by the end of 2010.
   A total project budget of $447 million was approved by the board of trustees of Princeton HealthCare System on Monday. The project is being financed through a combination of savings, loans and donations to a capital campaign that has so far raised $82.8 million of its $115 million goal.