Plans for a nearly $1 billion expansion of the Morristown Medical Center will be revised after residents and town officials expressed concern about the project’s impact on traffic, noise, and overall quality of life.
Atlantic Health System’s proposed expansion of its flagship medical facility was first announced in October during a series of town hall-style meetings. The project includes plans for a new 11-story, 483,000-square-foot building to accommodate 108 private rooms, a specialty medical building, a parking garage, and an expansion of the Goryeb Children’s Hospital, according to a presentation shared by Atlantic Health.
Hospital officials say the expansion will create hundreds of jobs, boost the local economy, and improve access to services. But residents and town officials say there’s more that needs to be done to address their concerns about the massive, five-year construction project.
“Nothing about this is a done deal,” said Business Administrator Jillian Barrick during a Dec. 10 council meeting. “While the hospital and Atlantic Health have their vision, and they would certainly love if we would all just rubber stamp what they want, that is certainly not what Morristown does and that’s not what we’re going to do in this case.”
In a statement on behalf of the town, Morristown officials said: “Our residents remain concerned about the impact of the expansion proposal on the surrounding neighborhoods. Specifically, the three major concerns we have heard are about increases in traffic, the height and impact of the proposed parking garage adjacent to Randolph Drive, and the height of the proposed patient care pavilion near I-287.”
Officials added that Atlantic Health is working on responding to resident concerns and they expect follow-up meetings to be scheduled early next year.
“Atlantic Health System is working collaboratively with town leaders to review all the constructive feedback we received to date. We will continue to engage in conversations with our neighbors and others and are committed to sharing updates in a timely manner,” said Luke Margolis, director of corporate communications for Atlantic Health System, in a statement to NJ Advance Media.
Morristown Medical Center has one of the largest emergency departments in the state, treating more than 100,000 patients per year, according to Atlantic Health.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for
Morristown Medical Center, the largest medical facility in the Atlantic Health System, is known for its Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute, ranked among the top 50 in the nation for cardiology, heart and vascular surgery by U.S. News and World Report for 2024-25. It also has one of the largest emergency departments in the state, treating 100,000 patients per year, according to hospital data. Atlantic Health said it needs to expand the Morristown facility to meet growing demand, increase capacity, and reduce wait times.
As currently proposed, the expansion of Morristown Medical Center is expected to cost in the high nine-figure range, said Margolis. However, given the project is still in preliminary stages, cost estimates are likely to change, he said.
The proposed project would not expand the hospital’s current footprint, Margolis said. As currently proposed, it would increase usable space for patient care by 700,000 square feet on the hospital’s existing campus. But the endeavor has faced setbacks from the start.
The hospital’s first public meeting with Morristown residents was postponed when “while working to vet their proposal, it became clear that more time was needed before we could comfortably agree to bring this project to the public as many questions remain unanswered,” Mayor Timothy Dougherty wrote in an Oct. 23rd letter to residents.
For example, Dougherty said, “the 200-page traffic study was received by the town only this morning. We believe it would be irresponsible to move forward with the public engagement process without ensuring that all information has been reviewed by our professionals and available to the public to ensure that they have a complete picture.”
Despite these concerns, Atlantic Health did not add to or alter their plans before presenting the project again in subsequent town hall-style meetings, town officials said.
“I saw the same presentation three times,” said Morristown Council President Nathan Umbriac at a council meeting last week. “So, there were no amendments, there were no changes, there was no listening to the feedback or modifying the plan whatsoever.”
“I would hope that if they were going to come before the public again that they would take into consideration a lot of concerns that have been shared amongst the neighborhood,” said Umbriac.
Morristown officials said they’ve received dozens of calls, emails, letters, and public comments from residents regarding the project. Many residents reiterate the same concerns about traffic congestion, tax impact, and noise. Officials said they have shared all concerns with Atlantic Health.
“I think they know that a lot more has to be done on this project before this council would consider it,” said Councilman Robert Iannaccone during last week’s council meeting.
Atlantic Health wants to build a specialty medical building on the campus of Morristown Medical Center to serve as a new home for state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment.Courtesy of Atlantic Health System
Morristown residents have expressed concern about the height and impact of a new parking structure included in the Morristown Medical Center expansion plans. Courtesy of Atlantic Health System
Margolis, director of corporate communications, said Atlantic Health has “consulted numerous experts throughout this process, including traffic and environmental engineers, civic planners, architects, and design professionals.”
If approved, the project will begin construction early next year and wrap in 2030, according to tentative plans. The project will be built in three phases, beginning with a new parking garage and an adjacent specialty medical building, which will serve as the new home for state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment, according Atlantic Health.
The second phase of the expansion is dedicated to constructing a new 11-story “West Pavilion” building with 180 intensive care unit-capable inpatient beds to “accommodate complex and extended care, potential pandemics, mass casualties,” according to Atlantic Health.
Plans show the building will also include 20 new operating rooms, enhanced family waiting areas, an imaging suite and a modernized, relocated helipad on the roof.
The last and final phase of the expansion project calls for a two-floor expansion of Goryeb Children’s Hospital to accommodate 25 new inpatient beds, satisfy the requirement for private inpatient beds, and meet growing demand for pediatric services.
The project should provide more than 1,500 union construction jobs and add 500 permanent jobs to the area, under the currently proposed plans. However, no matter how good the project sounds, officials said they need consensus to move forward.
“The public has to buy in, the hospital has to buy in, and the administration and the council has to buy in. So it’s tri-fold,” said Dougherty.
The revised project will be presented to the community and administration again before it goes before the council and local zoning board for approval.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
