Riverview Medical Center Plans Expansion This Spring

Riverview Medical Center will begin construction on a new surgical center later this spring, the hospital announced earlier this week.

Riverview Medical Center has been serving the greater Red Bank area since 1928.  And, while it provides programs and services in all major medical disciplines, its recent increase of 20 percent in surgical volume has created a need to improve its current surgery operations.

Tim Hogan, president of Riverview Medical Center, claims that they are just trying to enhance an already exemplary program.

Hogan insists that the upgrades will help Riverview to stay in competition with leading hospitals in New York City and Philadelphia. The 22,000-square foot expansion will allow the hospital to handle an additional 445 surgical cases – a growth of 5.5 percent by 2013.

“We are trying to keep up with changing healthcare, and, with our recent increase in surgery patients, we have become restricted by our lack of additional surgery rooms,” Hogan said in a phone interview.

The new center will comprise of two specialty surgery suites, a renovated post-anesthesia care area, a conference and educational center, and the first remodeling of the hospital’s same-day surgery suite in over twenty years.

“Our same day surgery suite is pretty old an antiquated. It hasn’t been updated since the 1980’s,” Hogan said.

These new additions to Riverview Medical Center will not only better suit the back up of surgery patients that they have now, but will hopefully allow for additional growth.

“Currently, with our limited operating rooms, we have certain physicians who want to do the operations, but can’t due to a lack of space. With the additional room, we hope to attract more leading surgeons from all over the nation.” Hogan stated.

In a prepared statement, Dr. John Rose, chairman of surgery at Riverview, claims that this high-tech center is the “next step in advancing the Medical Center’s mission to provide exceptional care to the community in an environment that is comfortable and close to home.”

The project is funded primarily by Meridian Health, and largely aims to create specialty programs, produce a top-quality environment, and expand surgical capability.

“With the construction of this state-of-the-art center, Riverview has another opportunity to expand our surgical expertise and capacity to enhance high-end acute surgical services for the community we serve,” Hogan declared in the press release.

Hogan insists that the operation is an “isolated process” that will not affect Riverview’s daily operations.  As of now, the estimated completion date for the expansion is the second half of 2012.  For more information on hospital programs, visit www.riverviewmedicalcenter.com.