Westwood Hospital Welcomes Residents to Open House

HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley hosted residents from Westwood and surrounding area towns for an open house and community day celebration Saturday in anticipation of their June 1 opening.

HackensackUMC CEO Robert Garrett pointed out that this will be the first new hospital to open in New Jersey in about 30 years.

"It's been a long time in coming, but we are about to make history here in Westwood," Garrett said.

Visitors were able to take a tour of the 128-bed hospital's various facilities like operating rooms, patient rooms and the Bistro 250 cafeteria. There was also food, games, facepainting and other activities for guests.

Hospital CEO Chad Melton highlighted some of the their amenities while speaking to visitors at the event. All the rooms will be private and feature their own thermostats and TVs. There will be free valet parking and concierge service and room service will be available. Melton said

Jose Cardenas, the executive chef of Bistro 250, said they also strive to be more like a hotel restaurant than a traditional hospital cafeteria.

"We're going to try to open up the menu to appeal to everybody," Cardenas said.

The crew from HUMC's Air One was also at the event to show off their EC135 helicopter to guests. It features all the same equipment as an ICU and is stocked with medication, according to Chief Flight Nurse Joseph Solda. Since the service began in April 2012, they have run 290 successful missions. It takes just eight minutes for them to reach Westwood from their base at Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford.

"When there's a need, we can be there," Solda said.

In the years since the Pascack Valley Hospital closed, HUMC has also been operating paramedic services in the area and opened an emergency room at the former hospital. The paramedics have seen more than 17,000 patients in that time and the ER has hosted more than 15,000, according to Garrett.

Garrett, Melton and Mayor John Birkner all thanked the residents of the Pascack Valley who supported the hospital's opening through various hearings and other events.

"They heard your voices down in Trenton," Garrett said.

Westwood Councilwoman Ingrid Quinn, who worked at the Pascack Valley Hospital for 30 years, said she was "thrilled" about the new opening, because of both the availability of medical care and the jobs for many who lost theirs when the hospital closed.

"It brings me a lot of joy," Quinn said. "It's great for the community."

Gov. Chris Christie will visit the hospital for a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday. They will officially open for business at 12:01 a.m. June 1.

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