Toms River, N.J.-based Community Medical Center will update its campus through a $600 million investment, which is expected to be completed in seven to 10 years, the Asbury Park Press reported Dec. 8.
The investment by parent company RWJBarnabas Health — based in West Orange, N.J. — includes a 300,000-square-foot new building that will function as the main hospital. The building will have 10 new operating rooms, 100 inpatient beds and outpatient services.
There will also be a parking garage with 600 total spaces, an environmentally friendly central utility plant and a renovation of its existing hospital with private rooms and oncology services.
The investment is meant to help patients get care closer to home, according to the report.
"We don't want the folks in Ocean County having to drive all over the place. It's not right," CEO Patrick Ahearn told Asbury Park Press. "And we need to bring the services [here] and invest and show that we really mean it that Ocean County is important to the [RWJBarnabas] system. And it's important to the healthcare that we deliver for the state."
The changes still need approval from the city.