Structural Issue Shuts Down NJ Hospital Parking Garage

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Faulty concrete roof panels that forced the closure of the parking garage at Community Medical Center came from the same company that produced roof panels in parking garage collapse at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia that killed three men in April, according to documents and officials.

The parking garage at Community Medical Center was declared structurally unsafe on April 23, according to Toms River Township permit records.

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"The parking garage at Community Medical Center was closed after a structural deficiency was identified in the north stairwell," a spokesman for RWJ Barnabas, which owns Community Medical Center, said in a statement. "The parking garage is expected to reopen mid-June, after all safety and regulatory inspections are completed and we receive approval from all appropriate regulatory agencies."

Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick said Friday the building was declared unsafe after hospital officials contacted the township code enforcement and asked for an inspection and shutdown.

"I believe this was initiated by the subcontractor that made the panels," Rodrick said.

That subcontractor is Brayman Precast, township officials said, the same subcontractor listed by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the April 8 collapse at CHOP, according to OSHA records.

Brayman Precast was working under High Concrete Group at the CHOP site, OSHA records show. The collapse at CHOP happened during construction.

High Concrete also worked on the Community Medical Center garage, a Toms River official said. That new garage, which accommodates 700 vehicles and serves visitors and hospital staff, had been open about 14 months before the shutdown.

Emails to Brayman Precast and High Concrete seeking additional information and comment were not answered Friday afternoon.

The garage is part of extensive renovations and expansion underway at the hospital, which has been operating since September 1961. A new 440,000-square-foot addition was approved in April, part of an ongoing $600 million in upgrades and work at the hospital.

Drew Chabot, who has been the township's acting business administrator, told the Philadelphia Inquirer the roof panels in the northwest stairwell of the Community Medical Center parking garage were sagging when the town inspected at the hospital's request.

An update to the township's permit portal showed the parking garage had been inspected again on Friday and was in compliance.

"At RWJBarnabas Health, the safety of our patients, visitors and team members is paramount," the hospital organization's spokesperson said. "We engage with renowned and best-in-class architects, engineers, contractors, and design professionals for the development and construction of all capital facilities projects across the health system."

"Inspections and maintenance of our facilities and structures are conducted and performed regularly and meet code requirements and or exceed recommended best practices," the spokesperson said. "Partners that we contract with for facilities services are bound by service level agreements that address code and maintenance standards."