A 25-page report by the New Jersey Department of Health recommended the State Health Planning Board greenlight Woodbury, N.J.-based Inspira Health Network's proposed $326 million replacement hospital for its Woodbury location, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The proposed replacement hospital would reduce the number of licensed beds from 305 to 204. The department's report said the downsize was warranted, as the hospital's occupancy rate declined from 46 percent in 2011 to 34 percent in 2015.
Conditions of the plan include Inspira sustaining a 24-hour satellite emergency department at the current Woodbury hospital and drafting a transportation plan for indigent patients or those who will lack access to the replacement hospital.
The planning board is expected to discuss if a certificate of need for the proposed facility should be issued at a meeting next week.