Jersey City Medical Center


The Jersey City Medical Center is a hospital in Jersey City, New Jersey. The hospital has had different facilities in the city. It is currently located on a 15-acre campus at Grand Street and Jersey Avenue overlooking New York Harbor and Liberty State Park. The campus includes three facilities: the Wilzig Hospital, the Provident Bank Ambulatory Center, and the Christie Kerr Women's Health Center. The hospital serves as a regional referral, teaching hospital.
Jersey City Medical Center is a teaching affiliate and a member of Americas Essential Hospitals.

History

The hospital began as the "Charity Hospital" but the Board of Aldermen of Jersey City bought land at Baldwin Avenue and Montgomery Street in 1882 for a new hospital. The locale was chosen to remove the hospital from the industrial development at Paulus Hook. This building is now the Medical Center building. It was renamed the Jersey City Hospital in 1885 and had expanded to 200 beds. In 1909, the original hospital building was reserved for men and a second wing was added for women. When Frank Hague became mayor of Jersey City in 1917, he planned to expand the hospital. He had the original building renovated and constructed a new 23-story structure for surgery, known as The Orpheum. The new facility opened in 1931, and George O'Hanlon was the first director. With money from the Works Progress Administration new buildings were added during The Great Depression. The formal dedication of the Medical Center Complex, the B. S. Pollack Hospital, was on October 2, 1936, with Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicating the building.
In addition to the surgery building and the maternity hospital, the campus included the nurses' residence, hospital for chest diseases, a psychiatric hospital, and an outpatient clinic. The Medical Center's services were free. The formal dedication of the Jersey City Medical Center Complex was on October 2, 1936, with Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicating the building. During the 1950s, JCMC was the home of the medical school of Seton Hall University the predecessor to the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry now located in Newark, NJ. The Art Deco buildings of the former JCMC complex were renovated and became The Beacon Jersey City.
Jersey City Medical Center was one of the first medical centers in the United States and the first in New Jersey. Many people in Northern New Jersey still call it “The Medical Center” because of its reputation to handle all kinds of medical issues. In 1988, the Medical Center became a private, non-profit organization. In 1994, the State of New Jersey designated the Medical Center as a regional trauma center, and in the late 1990s it was approved as a core teaching affiliate of Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The hospital also has a teaching affiliation with the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, and St. George's University School of Medicine.
In 2004, JCMC moved to new quarters at Grand Street and Jersey Avenue designed by Philadelphia A/E firm Ballinger and RBSD of New York. The site is near the light rail, ferries to NYC, PATH trains and the Liberty Science Center. The facility is currently operated by Barnabas Health and is the regions “state designated trauma center” and the only hospital in Hudson County to do open heart surgery. Several additional buildings are currently being planned for the site.

Current operations

In 1988, the center declared bankruptcy and became a private, non-profit organization. In 1994, the State of New Jersey designated the Medical Center as a regional trauma center, and in the late 1990s it was approved as a core teaching affiliate of Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The hospital also has a teaching affiliation with the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine.
JCMC received among the highest scores in Hudson County in the New Jersey Department of Health's 2009 Hospital Performance Report. The Center scored in the top 10 percent of hospitals in the state for their care of heart attacks, surgical improvements, and heart failure, receiving the second-highest score behind North Bergen's Palisades Medical Center. JCMC received a 95 in pneumonia treatment, 97 in heart attack, heart failure and surgical care, percentages that represent the number of patients treated properly and released.
The JCMC comprises two main hospital facilities, the Wilzig Hospital and the Provident Bank Ambulatory Center.
While not directly connected to the JCMC, a 2.5-acre parcel owned by the city is planned to become a proton therapy treatment center, though the deal is contingent on tax-abatements the city is reluctant to give.
In October 2012 the JCMC announced that it would implement an on-line appointment service for non-threatening emergency room treatment, becoming the first hospital in the New York metro area to do so.

Departments and centers

Behavioral Health Services

Inpatient Detoxification
Short-term acute private bed unit, led by a multi-disciplinary team. Patients receive a comprehensive assessment / care and discharge plan.
Psychiatric Emergency/ Screening
Located at the Jersey City Medical Center. Hudson County's designated Screening Center, offering six extended crisis evaluation beds, operates 24x7 providing psychiatric assessment and stabilization / referral as well as specialized psychiatric screening services for children, adolescents and adults.
Mobile Outreach
Located at the Jersey City Medical Center. Certified Screeners provide psychiatric screening in Hudson County and provide assistance with any trauma / emergency on a 24/7 basis. Outreach staff are stationed at the County Youth House, Jersey City Municipal Court and Hudson County Superior Court.
Acute Psychiatric and Detoxification Inpatient Care
Located at the Jersey City Medical Center. A psychiatric unit and detoxification unit are available 24x7. The closed acute section of the psychiatric unit is Hudson County's designated Short Term Facility. Admissions to the detoxification unit must meet ASAM criteria. A multi-disciplinary team provides a comprehensive assessment/treatment and discharge referral/linkage for all patients.
Partial Hospitalization Programs
Located at the Jersey City Medical Center. Day hospital services are available for children, adolescents, and adults. A Therapeutic Nursery is available for 3-5 year olds. Day and after-school partial hospital programs are available for children/adolescents with a serious emotional disorder. Two-day programs are available for adults: an Acute Partial Hospitalization Program for individuals being discharged from acute hospital stays as well as those needing a higher level of care to divert them from hospitalization, and a psychosocial rehabilitation program with specialized services for MICA patients.
Outpatient Programs
Located at the Jersey City Medical Center. A full range of services, individual, group, marital, family, psychological testing, and medication management are available for children, adolescents and adults who present with emotional, psychiatric, behavioral, interpersonal, or post traumatic issues. Anger management and Domestic Violence groups are available for men and women. Addiction treatment services and drug testing/monitoring are available for adults, including intensive outpatient groups, and after care. A School Based Clinic at Snyder High School provides onsite counseling services.
Integrated Case Management Services
Located at the Jersey City Medical Center. Hudson County's designated ICMS provider is available for Hudson County adults who have a serious psychiatric disorder and require assertive community outreach to assist with community stabilization.
Residential Services
Located at the Jersey City Medical Center. A 24x7 supervised 15 bed specialized residence, Liberty Park Residence, is available for long term care for seriously disabled adults. A Supportive Housing Project assists adults with a psychiatric problem who want to live independently but require assistance.
Consultation and Education/ Traumatic Loss Program
Located at the Jersey City Medical Center.

Fannie E. Rippel Foundation Heart Institute

Cardiac services including:
Additionally, this institute is the only center in Hudson County that provides:
Opened in 2019 at the former Greenville Hospital on Kennedy Boulvard in Greeville. The facility began as a small outpatient dispensary in 1898. The current building was completed in 1964, with a west wing added in 1971. The hospital became part of Liberty HealthCare System, the former JCMC parent, in 1990. After it closed, the building was used for two years as headquarters for Jersey City Medical Center's Emergency Medical Service. The building was later sold to Community Healthcare Associates, which renovated it and leased it back to the JCMC.

The Orthopedic Institute at Jersey City Medical Center

Jersey City Emergency Medical Services

History
1868 – Charity Hospital was Built in Jersey City
1882 – Jersey City Medical Center Moved to Montgomery and Baldwin
1883 – JCMC EMS Responded to 691 EMS Calls
1916 – JCMC EMS Responds to Black Tom Explosion
1919 – JCMC EMS begins utilizing Motorized Ambulances
1930 – JCMC EMS maintains a fleet of 11 ambulances and responds to a record 17,000 requests for aid
1978 – JCMC EMS is one of the nine original paramedic projects in New Jersey
1996 – Achieved Accreditation by the State of New Jersey for the EMT training program
2003 – Partnered with Hudson County Community College to establish an associate degree program in Pre-Hospital Medicine: Paramedic Science
2005 & 2007 – The American Heart Association Training Center successfully obtained American Heart Association accreditation in BLS, PALS, and ACLS
2006 – Implemented real time driver feedback system, Implemented nationally recognized System Status Management GPS Deployment Strategy
2007 – Designed the first in New Jersey "HeartSafe and Emergency Ready Communities", Implemented Electronic Scheduling
2008 – Created Operational Dashboard Reporting, Deployed MARVLIS system
2009 – Implemented electronic charting system, Began the process of certifying EMS Billing Employees through the National Academy of Ambulance Coding
2010 – Achieved Accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, Achieved Accreditation by the Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, Achieved
Accredited Center of Excellence from the National Academy of Emergency Dispatch, Jersey City Medical Center EMS Department maintains a fleet of 35 emergency vehicles and responds to more than 90,000 incidents a year

Hospital rating data

The HealthGrades website contains the clinical quality data for Jersey City Medical Center, as of 2018. For this rating section clinical quality rating data, patient safety ratings and patient experience ratings are presented.
For inpatient conditions and procedures, there are three possible ratings: worse than expected, as expected, better than expected. For this hospital the data for this category is:
For patient safety ratings the same three possible ratings are used. For this hospital they are"
Percentage of patients rating this hospital as a 9 or 10 - 67%
Percentage of patients who on average rank hospitals as a 9 or 10 - 69%