Source: NorthJersey.com
“So why all this fuss over another office building?” asks John A. Fromhold, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health’s Mountainside Medical Center, asked Tuesday.
For starters, the three-story, 45,735-square-foot facility will place 40 to 50 physicians directly across the street from the hospital, which has bordered Glen Ridge and Montclair since 1891.
These doctors’ expertise will include obstetrics and gynecology; internal medicine; family medicine; urology; general surgery; cardiology; orthopedics; ear-nose-throat care; pulmonology, and endocrinology, according to the property’s developer, Hampshire Cos. Additionally, pediatricians from Hackensack University Medical Center’s John M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital and 17 physician assistants will work in the complex.
The Glen Ridge office building is replacing the 120-year-old Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing facility, which occupied the site until 2015.
“Mountainside School was long considered the best in this region, and it trained more than 4,000 registered nurses, many of whom continue to work right here at Mountainside,” Fromhold proudly proclaimed.
As four-year bachelor’s degrees emerged for nursing, Mountainside partnered with Montclair State University, “which ensures that this community remains associated with nursing education,” the CEO noted.
“We’re going to really need, as part of a growing health care network, more ambulatory care centers and more medical office buildings that are very convenient and accessible for patients and their families,” the executive said. “Also, we need to make health care more affordable.
“I think the medical office building that’s going to be built behind me will accomplish all of those goals.”
“This new building will also us to fully optimize our space by replacing an antiquated building, and redeveloping and ideally situating on a site that has historical significance to Mountainside and its community,” Fromhold said.
The offices will be 100 percent pre-leased to Mountainside Medical Center upon their completion, which is anticipated in early 2020.
Additionally, Robert Garrett, co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health, couldn’t help but mention the Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, which welcomed its first students on Monday on the ON3 campus in Nutley. The medical school’s “white coat ceremony,” marking the pupils’ transition into medical education, took place this week.
“I have some good news. We’re into Day Two, and all the students have gone to class both days,” Garrett quipped.