OLD BRIDGE – Hackensack Meridian Raritan Bay Medical Center Old Bridge recently held a topping off ceremony to celebrate the final steel structure being placed on the new Emergency Department, a 24,000-square-feet expansion project that will more than double the current footprint.
The topping-off event marks a major construction milestone, symbolizing the completion of the expansion’s structural phase.
Raritan Bay Medical Center leadership and team members, were on hand to sign the steel structure before it was raised, according to information provided by Hackensack Meridian Health.
“Our Emergency Department has successfully served central New Jersey for more than four decades,” Thomas Shanahan, chief hospital executive, Raritan Bay Medical Center said in the statement. “We simply outgrew the existing footprint. The new expansion will create a modern facility that can meet the evolving needs of our patients and solidify our commitment to providing the best patient-centered care to our growing community.”
Construction on the expansion began in October 2019 and represents Hackensack Meridian Health’s commitment to the community, with a $39 million investment.
The new state-of-the-art Emergency Department will provide safer, faster arrivals by adding ambulance bays, newly designed pediatric rooms, behavioral health and new on-site technology with equipment that will provide more accurate diagnostics and treatment, according to the statement.
In addition, a new hospital concourse, main entrance, and lobby will modernize the facility and link all three hospital buildings. The medical center will also be more accessible with increased parking and better wayfinding.
“We are really starting to see the vision of this state-of-the-art facility come to life,” William DiStanislao, executive site director and vice president of Operations, Raritan Bay Medical Center Old Bridge, said in the statement. “It’s amazing how it has already transformed landscape of our hospital campus.”
The expansion was designed and constructed by Stantec and Turner Construction, a collaborative joint venture.
The project remains on schedule and is expected to open to the public in December 2021.
For more information, visit www.rbmc.org.