Giant Leaps to Support the Future of Healthcare for Kids

Approved by the Hospital Board of Trustees in May, 2019, this new plan calls for a series of sequential and strategic investments. Before we take the giant leaps in mission and vision, we must address the infrastructure in which we so delicately and compassionately care for children today.

Many of our locations were constructed and designed in a different era—some as far back as 50 years. While so many miracles have occurred at these sites, some have reached or exceeded their optimal use as centers for excellence in treating children with special healthcare needs. Structural renovations (and in some cases, relocation) plus upgraded technology are necessary to improve the efficiency and quality of in-patient visits and expand accessibility to services through Telehealth.

Mountainside Campus Renovation & Repurposing: Investment $19M

CSH is now in its third century of caring, and the very roots of the organization sprouted on New Providence Road in Mountainside, New Jersey. In fact, in 1988, the Pediatric Long Term Care Unit, caring then for 25 children with a multitude of complex medical needs, became New Jersey’s first hospital-based pediatric skilled care facility. In many ways, CSH’s remarkable journey to its status today as the premier provider for children with special healthcare needs began right here. Today, the Mountainside Campus houses two distinct and comprehensive CSH programs…long term care (a growing need for our most fragile patient population) and outpatient services.

As the structure increases with age, so, too, do concerns about accessibility, design, layout, and efficiency. The reality is, the building was not designed for the daily comings and goings of children and families seeking outpatient care, with multiple steps and levels to navigate. As a result of growing need for services, the outpatient care portion of the building has far exceeded capacity and will be relocated to our planned new facility in Union.

Union Outpatient Center: Investment $24M

The demand for services in Union County and surrounding areas has motivated CSH to develop the Union Outpatient Center, a spacious state-of-the-art multi-level building only 10 minutes from the Mountainside site. This new location will increase capacity by more than 15%, allowing CSH to provide care to more children. It will gather together comparable services for the comfort and convenience of patients and families, as well as the efficiency of staff (see floor plans in appendices). All therapy related activities such as cognitive, speech, occupational, and physical will take place on the third floor. The second floor will congregate psychology, psychiatry and neurodevelopmental behavioral health services. All physiatry and primary care will occur on the first floor where a welcoming lobby and multi-purpose room will also be featured.

Contemporary technology and access will be key elements in the Union Outpatient Center as it will be in each of our renovated ambulatory sites. For example, electronic patient boards will notify clinicians when patients arrive for care, minimizing unnecessary wait times. Space for telehealth “visits” will be designated. As much as possible, the technology and equipment of care will be hidden, or embedded, to offer a less clinical and more family-friendly environment. Access will be measurably underscored by the 325 space parking lot and covered patient drop-off area, as well as the Center’s location right off the Garden State Parkway and other local roads…all easy to reach by vehicle or bus transportation.

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY

Toms River Outpatient Center: Investment $15M

CSH brought its expertise to the children and families of central New Jersey when it opened a 30-bed unit in Toms River in 1992. Nearly 30 years after that historic moment, our two Toms River facilities, one devoted to long term and outpatient care and the other only an outpatient setting, are edging toward obsolescence— no longer able to provide the platform for the level of care for which CSH has become renowned and accustomed to offering.

With CSH’s leases for the two facilities coming to an end, the organization will take the opportunity to construct a new, spacious replacement facility, which they will share with RWJBarnabas Pediatrics and Community Medical Center. At this new consolidated Toms River Outpatient Center, CSH will occupy 40% of the building and embed the necessary ingredients for a cutting-edge ambulatory special needs care facility. Features will include better patient flow, improved efficiency and privacy with designated clinical pods, greatly enhanced access for patients, families and visitors, expanded physician care provider space, a state-of-the-art ambiance for a better patient experience, space for telehealth “visits,” and service alignment that will better serve both patients and clinicians. CSH will also partially share physicians from the new Monmouth outpatient facility to ensure continuity, quality and comprehensive coverage of children’s needs.

Monmouth County Outpatient Center: Investment $8M

CSH will occupy 15,000 square feet as part of the collaborative Ambulatory Destination Center that RWJ Barnabas Health (RWJBH) is planning at the Heights at Monmouth in Eatontown. The CSH space on the second floor of this new four-floor medical building will feature a full range of services including pediatric primary care, neuro-development, physiatry and myriad others including all therapies, in the capable hands of 45 CSH clinical staff members. As in all other locations, technology for telehealth visits will be implemented in this facility.

More than 250,000 children and their families live within a comfortable driving distance of the new Center which will provide a continuum of care from prenatal through early childhood by including an RWJBH Wellness Center with an urgent care department, a pharmacy, a lab, and a comprehensive RWJBH Women and Children’s Care service.

Bayonne Outpatient Center: Investment $3M

There is a population of 357,000 children within a 30-minute drive of Bayonne, which is reason enough to provide a site for those who require our special services. CSH will collaborate with Jersey City Medical Center on repurposing existing space in Bayonne as the future home of this cutting-edge outpatient center to serve more children living with special healthcare needs in Hudson County.

The design of all new CSH outpatient facilities is the result of a family-centered, clinician-based, best-in-class approach. These sites will all feature capabilities to better provide Behavioral Health services, along with sophisticated technology for virtual telehealth visits.

Children’s Specialized Hospital Foundation

150 New Providence Road Mountainside, NJ 07092

(908) 301-5410 | foundation@childrens-specialized.org

All gifts are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.