Kimball Medical Center Officials at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, have announced plans to merge with Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood, expanding outpatient services at the Ocean County hospital while transferring maternity care to Long Branch.
Officials with Barnabas Health, which operates both hospitals, said the merger addresses the changing nature of health care by providing a more coordinated, regionalized approach and focusing more on specialty services such as geriatrics, neurology and oncology.
The merger, which is expected to take effect in the second quarter of 2014, will rebrand Kimball as Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus and allocate $11 million toward capital improvements at the Lakewood hospital. Eugenio Espinosa, a social service worker with the Lakewood-based Puerto Rican Action Board, said the closing of Kimball’s maternity ward will put a strain on people who are unable to drive to Long Branch.
“That is really, really going to affect the Latino community,” Espinosa said. “Some of these people, they don’t have transportation to get all the way [to Long Branch]. They are going to charge them an arm and a leg. It would be a terrible thing.”
Barnabas officials said Kimball will continue to deliver babies in emergency situations and provide “seamless transportation” to Monmouth or another Barnabas hospital, such as Community Medical Center in Toms River. Lisa Thibault, communications manager for Catholic Charities, Trenton, said Latino clients in Lakewood are concerned about the expense that could entail.
“If you are going by taxi to Long Branch or Toms River, it is not an inexpensive ride from Lakewood,” she said. “I think everybody understands that health care costs are out of control and hospitals have to do what they can, but how are they going to speak to the community need?”
Carrie Cristello, director of media relations for Barnabas, said Kimball has had a long relationship with Ocean Health Initiatives, a nonprofit family health care center in Lakewood that provides women’s health services, pediatric care, internal medicine and other services. That relationship will continue after the merger, she said.
In an email, Cristello said the merger will create a new neuroscience institute, a “mini-stroke” program, a comprehensive weight management program and other new services for patients in the Lakewood area.
“The merger will result in seamless access to Monmouth Medical Center’s renowned specialty services, and will also result in a significant expansion and growth of outpatient services,” she said.
Kimball’s inpatient facility will transition to private rooms, decreasing the number of overall beds while adding a new geriatric medicine unit to the emergency department.
The merger will entail a number of layoffs, but Barnabas officials were unable to provide specifics as of Jan. 13.
Both hospitals will retain their individual licenses with separate medical staffs under the merger, and a single board of trustees will oversee both campuses.
Lakewood Mayor Menashe Miller could not be reached for comment.
According to state Sen. Robert W. Singer (R-Ocean), the merger is a necessary step to restore Kimball’s financial viability.
“Inner-city types of hospitals with poor payer mixes and a high proportion of charity care are being stressed financially,” said Singer, a former Kimball vice president, referring to Kimball’s high proportion of uninsured patients in recent years. “This type of merger puts Kimball in a better position to deal with the future.”
The merger, Singer said, will bring new specialists and highly qualified doctors to Kimball, and provide a broader range of outpatient services that could attract new types of patients and improve the hospital’s finances.
Because Kimball, like many similar hospitals, serves as a “safety net” for a diverse, vulnerable population, it should not be closed despite its financial instability, he said.
But with a struggling state economy and a number of health care changes pending under the federal Affordable Care Act, Singer said Kimball and other hospitals like it need new methodologies to be more efficient and rely less on state subsidies.
An increased focus on specialty, outpatient services and mergers like the one proposed are likely the wave of the future, he said.
“Community hospitals can’t do everything for everybody, and at the end of the day make money,” Singer said, referencing a statewide study during the administration of Gov. Jon Corzine which showed many areas have too many hospitals and inpatient beds. “This is happening to hospital systems statewide and nationwide. All hospitals are going to have to start making some adjustments.”
While acknowledging that the pending layoffs would be a significant loss for residents and businesses throughout the area, Singer said they are part of an industry-wide trend in the hospital field, as multi-day inpatient procedures are being replaced by same-day outpatient procedures.
Combined with a slow economy and an increasing number of young applicants entering the medical field, Singer said the industry is in for “some tough times” in the future.
Regarding the decision to close Kimball’s maternity ward, Barnabas officials said only 16 percent of Lakewood babies are delivered annually at Kimball, while more than 50 percent are delivered at Monmouth Medical Center.
Monmouth Medical Center is home to a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, nearly 5,000 babies are delivered there each year, and its postpartum unit and newborn nursery have recently been renovated and expanded, they said.
The benefits of Monmouth Medical Center’s resources and medical expertise significantly outweigh any potential drawbacks to the merger, Singer said.
“The good news is that Kimball is certainly not being closed. Money is being invested, more services will make it more viable. … The future looks bright for Kimball,” he said.