Clara Maass Hospital Opens New Building, ICU In Belleville (PHOTOS)

BELLEVILLE, NJ — It’s big. It’s spacious. And hospital administrators say that it will ultimately lead to better medical care in Essex County.

Last week, more than 200 members of the Essex County community gathered in Belleville for the grand opening of the Clara Maass Medical Center’s new, 87,000-square-foot building, which should be available to the public “within a few weeks,” administrators stated.

According to Clara Maass administrators, the facility will house the hospital’s new main entrance and lobby, patient registration area, a retail pharmacy and a 32-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) featuring private patient rooms.

Hospital administrators said that the 27,000-square-foot ICU is designed to be “completely family-centric” and will offer patients private rooms with pull-out beds for visitors, nutrition centers, "comforting" waiting areas and a tranquility room for families and staff. The suite is also designed to provide “special healing features” such as privacy, soothing colors and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The ICU is also equipped with “the latest medical technology available and state-of-the-art patient monitoring systems,” hospital administrators said.

“We are here as a community to unlock the future of health care,” said Mary Ellen Clyne, president and chief executive officer for Clara Maass Medical Center.

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Belleville-Nutley Facebook page here.

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photos: Clara Maass Medical Center/RWJBH, used with permission