Northern Valley Suburbanite
Thursday, January 7, 2010
EDITORIAL

With the former Pascack Valley Hospital license expired, Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) should expand the services offered at its satellite emergency department in Westwood. Using a model popularized in northern Virginia of having freestanding emergency centers with the ability to treat some life-threatening conditions along with additional outpatient services is more beneficial to residents than a for-profit hospital.

The state issued a report last year called The New Jersey Commission on Rationalizing Health Care Resources that studied the efficiency and strength of area hospitals. It concluded that the state, especially Northeastern Bergen County, has a surplus of hospital beds that will continue to rise. The report said “based on the current financial picture, the residents of New Jersey should expect a wave of additional hospitals that will face financial distress in the next few years.”

Critics from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and Valley Hospital in Ridgewood cite that in their opposition to reopening the hospital as a for-profit. Meanwhile residents from parts of the Northern and Pascack valley areas are campaigning for the hospital because they want to be able to access health services closer to home.

Traffic is a major issue when trying to drive from that area to Englewood and Ridgewood, so Westwood is certainly more convenient to get to. But since the HUMC-run emergency department at the former Pascack Valley Hospital does not treat life-threatening conditions, people still need to go to the other hospitals.

Residents have been dealing with the traffic for the two years since Pascack Valley Hospital closed and are seeking relief. There is a remedy that’s proven successful in another region with even worse traffic conditions.

Northern Virginia has several freestanding emergency departments that are equipped with CT Scans, EKG testing capabilities, blood testing labs and other resources. These centers provide much more than just X-raying a broken bone or determining if someone has swine flu. Patients are still transferred to an acute care hospital for certain situations, but a good number of emergency room visits don’t require an overnight stay. A lot of essential care is available at these freestanding departments, which are much more convenient to access than the closest acute-care hospital.

This is what residents need. Opening another hospital, especially a for-profit facility, doesn’t need to happen for quality emergency care to be delivered. The rest of the former Pascack Valley Hospital property can be used by medical offices for dialysis, MRI/radiology, surgeries, and other outpatient services.

We know it would be great if every region could have its own full service hospital, but the state study shows that New Jersey, especially northern Bergen County, doesn’t have the inpatient volume to support that saturation. But Bergen County’s population density and road congestion are the exact conditions for when quality freestanding emergency departments are valuable.

They provide for quicker medical treatment and allow municipalities’ ambulances to get back in circulation sooner. When it comes to getting treatment for an emergency, there’s nothing more important than time and efficiency.

Instead of appealing the state’s decision to let the hospital license expire, HUMC should work on providing more valuable services at its satellite emergency department.

That’s a plan that would really serve the residents’ needs.

To read editorial and reader comments go to northjersey.com