Bayshore Reopens All Floors After February 2018 Fire

HOLMDEL, NJ — After the fourth floor at Bayshore Medical Center was badly damaged in a fire last winter, the hospital announced Tuesday it has now renovated and opened all floors to patients for the first time in months.

The news is significant because the February 2018 fire reduced Bayshore's capacity by 65 beds. But Bayshore is now back up and running at full capacity, after using the fire as an opportunity to renovate the fourth floor.

The fire broke out at 3 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 25 in a toaster in an employee break room on the fourth-floor, which houses Bayshore's intensive care unit. It was actually quite small, but it was flooding from the hospital's sprinkler system that actually did the most damage: Hallways on level four were flooded by water and as many as 17 patients had to be relocated to nearby hospitals.

The resulting water damage forced Bayshore to temporarily close the ICU and two impacted patient floors while repairs were made. Bayshore is part of the Hackensack Meridian Health system.

Past Patch reporting (and photos of the damage): Intensive Care Unit At Bayshore Damaged In Fire; Patients Moved

"We’ve been working tirelessly since the incident occurred to return the hospital to full capacity, but we also wanted to improve those impacted areas," said Frank Citara, the chief operating officer of Bayshore Medical Center.

Extensive renovations have now been made to the ICU and two patient floors. Bayshore took advantage of the opportunity to renovate the affected areas, modernizing the design and creating patient rooms that they say are more appealing.

"During the renovations, we selected the best materials and designs for our patients and for our physicians and team members who will work there, while also choosing eco-friendly materials wherever possible to support our sustainability efforts," said Citara. "We couldn’t be happier with the results and we believe our patients and community members will appreciate our new and improved healing environment."

The ICU was reopened and fully functioning in May of this year. In July, the affected third floor unit was reopened and the affected second floor unit was just reopened at the end of October. With this last reopening the hospital is now functioning at full capacity.

Photo via Bayshore Medical Center