New Bridge Medical Center Expansion Opens Monday: Coronavirus

PARAMUS, NJ — Bergen New Bridge Medical Center opened a new treatment site Monday to help increase its capacity amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

In an email, a hospital spokesperson told Patch the new facility is housed in a gym that has been converted to hold 30 medical-surgical patients.

"This added capacity will allow us to care for COVID-19 patients that are recovering as well as for those that may need rehabilitative and restorative care," the spokesperson told Patch..

The expanded facility, the spokesperson said, is only the first phase of the hospital's expansion. Expected to come online in early May, the hospital's Phase II expansion will increase its capacity by 100 more beds for subacute COVID-19 patients, medical-surgical patients and medical detox patients.

The second expansion will consist of tents constructed in a hospital parking lot. The spokesperson said it is expected to go online in early May, but a specific date has not yet been set.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy toured the expansion on April 22. Then, he told NJ.com the expanded facility in Bergen, along with another expansion at East Orange General Hospital, will help the state treat more COVID-19 patients today and in the future, supposing the state sees a second wave of the virus.

“...this is something that not only could come back but is more likely than not to come back — even if we do everything right,” Murphy told NJ.com. “We’ve got to be prepared. We’re not there yet. But this is a huge step in that direction.”

As of Monday, the New Jersey Department of Health reported Bergen County has seen a total of 14,965 positive cases of the virus and 955 deaths.

Across the Garden State, 6,407 people remain hospitalized because of the virus, the Department of Health reports. Of those, 1,303 are on ventilators, 907 are in critical care, 894 are in intensive care and 5,173 are in medical-surgical care