Politics & Government
Hospital Renovations Set To Begin
A panel of judges ruled in favor of HUMC this week.

Renovations to the former Pascack Valley Hospital are slated to begin soon, following a ruling this week which denied an attempt to block the construction.
Representatives of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and The Valley Hospital are attempting to appeal the approval of an application from Hackensack University Medical Center and LHP Hospital Group to reopen the former Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood. They had requested that the three-judge panel block construction while courts hear their appeal, but the judges ruled in favor of HUMC Tuesday.
According to Englewood and Valley, there are enough hospitals in the area already. Officials from those facilities have said reopening the Westwood hospital could cause them to have severe financial difficulties. Previous appeals by Englewood and Valley hospitals have
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Mayor John Birkner praised the panel's decision.
"We look forward to the opening in early 2013," Birkner said.
Find out what's happening in Westwood-Hillsdalefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The plan is to open HUMC North at Pascack Valley as a 128-bed facility with an obstetrical unit, an intensive and critical care unit, five operating rooms, one special procedure room and a cardiac catheterization laboratory at the site. The emergency room is already open. The application was approved by the in November, the Westwood Planning Board in January and in February.
The Pascack Valley Hospital closed in 2007 due to financial problems. Local officials and residents had pushed for the hospital to reopen and Governor Chris Christie had promised the hospital would reopen while running for office. Christie praised residents and officials for their work at in Westwood in February.