By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
TINTON FALLS – Monmouth Medical Center, Inc., an affiliate of Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health (RWJBH), closed on the purchase of the 36-acre former Fort Monmouth Myer Center property Dec. 16 at a purchase price of $7,256,660. The sale was announced by the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), the state authority overseeing the redevelopment of the former U.S. Army base.
The site at Corregidor Road and Pearl Harbor Avenue will become a full-scale health care campus to be built in two phases. Phase 1 will include an approximately 138,000-square-foot Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care Pavilion offering oncology services and an ambulatory surgery center. Pending all necessary approvals, construction should begin in 2023. The minimum capital investment for the project has been set at $153.5 million but may exceed $650 million upon completion of both phases.
The new facility will be called the Vogel Medical Campus at Tinton Falls in honor of philanthropists Sheldon and the late Anne Vogel of Colts Neck, both of whom were born at the hospital’s original Long Branch location and continued to support it through the decades. Sheldon retired as chief financial officer with Atlantic Records in 1998. In 2020, the family gifted the Monmouth Medical Foundation $50 million toward the new facility on the former Fort Monmouth.
“We are excited to take ownership of the property and begin the process of constructing a truly incredible facility,” said Eric Carney, president and CEO of MMC and Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus. “As an expansion of the campuses in Long Branch and Lakewood, the Vogel Medical Campus is located within the communities we currently serve and will be designed to meet the unique needs of our diverse and growing community.”
The outpatient center will feature comprehensive same-day surgery, advanced diagnostic imaging, radiation and specialty physician offices, according to an MMC press release. The cornerstone will be a comprehensive cancer center in partnership with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Services will be provided in a park-like setting with outdoor seating and walking areas designed to promote a healing environment.
“The Vogel Medical Campus is another example of meeting the healthcare needs of our region in an effective, flexible and sustainable way,” said Bill Arnold, executive vice president and president of the Southern Region, RWJBH, and president and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in a statement. “Our integrated network of inpatient and outpatient facilities, along with our outstanding providers, is ensuring high-quality care now and for generations to come.”
Phase 2 provides options at MMC’s discretion contingent on market demand and the needs of the surrounding community. Possibilities include a new acute care hospital, clinical support facilities and a medical office, along with walking trails and publicly accessible open space.
“This project will provide expanded access to exceptional care and offer important health education and wellness services for the entire community,” said
FMERA executive director Kara Kopach. “Residents will benefit from convenient access to critical services.”
Kopach added health care providers and professionals will have increased employment opportunities. The redevelopment is expected to create over 300 jobs with the completion of Phase 1 and may create some 1,000 jobs following the completion of Phase 2.
The property was first offered for sale in 2014, but found no takers due to the age, size and construction of the building known as the Hexagon for its unique design that mimics the Pentagon. The 750,000-square-foot former home of the Army’s Electronics Command and Night Vision Lab was where night vision goggles were invented.
Determining the parcel would be more marketable vacant, in 2017 the New Jersey Economic Development Authority acquired the site from FMERA to fund the abatement and demolition of the Cold War-era facility. Shortly thereafter, RWJBH made an unsolicited offer to NJEDA to purchase the property. A redevelopment agreement between MMC and FMERA was reached in October 2021. In exchange for taking on the demolition and abatement of the property, EDA received the proceeds of the sale, separate of FMERA’s Homeless Assistance Fund contribution of $727,996.50.
Monmouth Medical Center, along with The Unterberg Children’s Hospital, is a regional teaching campus for Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. It was named to the 2022 Newsweek list of “World’s Best Hospitals.”
The article originally appeared in the December 22 – 28, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
