HUMC North applies to reopen NJ hospital

The fate of a new hospital in Westwood, NJ, is now in the hands of the state. Hackensack University Medical Center delivered its application for certificate of need on June 1, the final day the state Department of Health and Senior Services would accept requests to open an acute-care hospital in Bergen County. The proposed new 128-bed hospital at the site of the former Pascack Valley Hospital would cost $39.6 million to renovate and would open in late 2012 or early 2013. According to Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Donna Leusner, the department will now review the application for completeness. Once the application is deemed complete in August, there will be a public hearing relatively close to the hospital, Leusner said, and the department will accept written statements from the public in regard to the application.