The Valley Hospital has abandoned plans to expand in Ridgewood, and instead will build a new facility less than three miles away.
PARAMUS - After trying for years to win permission to expand its Ridgewood facility, The Valley Hospital will instead build a new hospital in Paramus, officials announced Friday.
The new building, offering 372 acute-care beds, is expected to open in 2023.
Valley's Ridgewood campus will continue to see patients, but for out-patient services only.
The announcement ends years of speculation about the hospital's next move. The hospital had been thwarted in its desire to expand, with Ridgewood twice rejecting proposals to expand. The hospital, built in 1951 with 108 beds, in a highly competitive market.
Valley officials laid out this timetable: They will apply for state approval of the relocation next week, begin construction in 2019, and open for patient care in 2023.
The new hospital will be built across the street from existing Valley facilities. (The Valley Hospital) The new campus is 2 1/2 miles south of the current hospital, and is across the street from Valley's cancer and same-day-surgery centers. The hospital's property on Winters Avenue is near the Fashion Center and Paramus Park mall.
While the hospital's design is not final, officials said it would offer 372 beds and range in height from three to seven stories.
Once Valley's in-patient and emergency services are relocated in Paramus, the Ridgewood site will offer an urgent-care center, and laboratory, radiology and endoscopy services. Other outpatient services and some business administration may move back there as well, officials said.
Paramus mayor Richard LaBarbiera praised the move, saying "The 'New' Valley Hospital will help revitalize an aging industrial and office-use area of Paramus, bring much needed roadway improvements, provide economic benefits for the entire town, and diversify a retail-dependent tax base."
The new hospital will have only private rooms. In addition, the operating rooms will meet all of the standards to allow them to be used for general surgery, minimally invasive robotic surgery, cardiac catheterizations or endovascular procedures.
Valley officials said they will be meeting with town employees to work on traffic flow patterns at the new site.
"We very much look forward to continuing to work with Mayor LaBarbiera and the Council, and will be hosting Town Hall meetings for the residents of Paramus to introduce our project to the Borough," said Audrey Meyers, President and CEO of The Valley Hospital and Valley Health System.
More details about the site and timetable are available at a new website, Valley has launched a new website, www.TheNewValleyHospital.com and a Facebook page, Facebook.com/TheNewValleyHospital.
Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.