Topping-Off Ceremony Marks Major Construction Milestone for Raritan Bay Medical Center Old Bridge New Emergency Department

Hackensack Meridian Raritan Bay Medical Center Old Bridge recently held a topping off ceremony to celebrate the final steel structure being placed on the new Emergency Department, a 24,000-square-feet expansion project that will more than double the current footprint. The topping-off event marks a major construction milestone, symbolizing the completion of the expansion’s structural phase. Raritan Bay Medical Center leadership and team members, were on hand to sign the steel structure before it was raised.

“Our Emergency Department has successfully served central New Jersey for more than four decades,” said Thomas Shanahan, chief hospital executive, Raritan Bay Medical Center. “We simply outgrew the existing footprint. The new expansion will create a modern facility that can meet the evolving needs of our patients and solidify our commitment to providing the best patient-centered care to our growing community.”

Construction on the expansion began in October 2019 and represents Hackensack Meridian Health’s significant commitment to the community, with a $39 million investment. The new state-of-the-art Emergency Department will provide safer, faster arrivals by adding ambulance bays, newly designed pediatric rooms, behavioral health and new on-site technology with equipment that will provide more accurate diagnostics and treatment. In addition, a new hospital concourse, main entrance, and lobby will modernize the facility and link all three hospital buildings. The medical center will also be more accessible with increased parking and better wayfinding.

“We are really starting to see the vision of this state-of-the-art facility come to life,” said William DiStanislao, executive site director and vice president of Operations, Raritan Bay Medical Center Old Bridge. “It’s amazing how it has already transformed landscape of our hospital campus.”

The expansion was designed and constructed by Stantec and Turner Construction, a collaborative joint venture. The project remains on schedule and is expected to open to the public in December 2021.

About Hackensack Meridian Raritan Bay Medical Center

For more than 100 years, Hackensack Meridian Raritan Bay Medical Center-Perth Amboy and Raritan Bay Medical Center-Old Bridge have provided a full continuum of health care services to residents of Central Jersey. Raritan Bay Medical Center is one of less than one percent of hospitals in the world to achieve Magnet Recognition, the “Gold Standard” for nursing practice, quality, and safety in patient care, four times. In 2019, U.S. News & World Report ranked Raritan Bay Medical Center as high performing in Orthopedics, Nephrology, COPD and Heart Failure.

The medical center is a New Jersey state designated Primary Stroke Center and recipient of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, recognizing optimal treatment of stroke patients. Raritan Bay is also a recipient of the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval and the AHA’s Heart Check Mark for Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers and the AHA’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award recognizing high-quality care of patients experiencing a severe heart attack.

For more information, visit www.rbmc.org.