By Sunayana Prabhu
TINTON FALLS – The New Jersey Health Planning Board has recommended approval of RWJBarnabas Health’s controversial plan to relocate Monmouth Medical Center’s (MMC) essential medical facilities, including maternity and acute care services, to a new 36-acre campus in Tinton Falls.
Final approval now rests with New Jersey’s Acting Health Commissioner Jeffrey A. Brown. (As of press time Dec. 23, no action had been taken by Brown.)
After twice deferring action at highly contentious public hearings Nov. 22 and Dec. 4, board members voted unanimously in favor of the hospital’s certificate of need application, subject to 17 conditions. The action was taken during a special meeting Dec. 18.
Some officials continued to urge the state health commissioner to reject the plan.
“At this point, Commissioner Brown has all the information he needs to do the right thing and keep Monmouth Medical Center Hospital in Long Branch open,” U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6) said in a statement Dec. 18, following the board’s vote.
“The commissioner should not let a low-income community become a hospital desert because RWJ Barnabas wants to capture a wealthier population in Tilton Falls,” Pallone said. He reiterated concerns he raised previously about access to care, transportation barriers, and strain on surrounding hospitals, warning that closure would weaken the region’s health care safety net and disproportionately affect Long Branch residents.
However, in a summary of its final decision, the board concluded the relocation from Long Branch to Tinton Falls “will not result in a negative impact on the community, on patients that the hospital has historically served, or other hospitals.”
Hackensack Meridian Health hospital also responded to the board’s recommendation in a statement: “Hackensack Meridian Health will closely evaluate the conditions and how they would be implemented and monitored in practice. For a decision of this magnitude, safeguards must be more than statements of intent – these conditions must be binding commitments that protect patients and preserve the stability of care delivery across Monmouth County. We will continue to pursue all available administrative and legal remedies to ensure any final agency action is grounded in patient safety, access, and regional system stability.”
While the board did not entertain public comments at the Dec. 18 special meeting, it reviewed more than 12 hours of sometimes emotional testimony and written submissions from medical staff, employees, patients, elected officials and residents, both supporting and opposing the move. It ultimately determined RWJBarnabas Health “has the financial ability to construct, relocate and operate a new hospital in Tinton Falls.”
Details about the Decision
According to the board’s final summary, about 917 people supported the application, including 35 who spoke at hearings and 882 who submitted written comments. About 92 people opposed the proposal, with 58 speaking in person and 34 submitting written comments.
Supportive comments generally focused on the need to replace the hospital’s 135-year-old infrastructure with modern facilities, improve patient access and experience, expand behavioral health services, enhance emergency capacity, and improve parking and traffic access.
Opponents raised concerns about the loss of a Long Branch community asset, access for seniors and vulnerable residents, longer emergency travel times, economic impacts on local businesses, and added strain on nearby hospitals, including Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank.
In its analysis, the board said Monmouth Medical Center complied with state regulations and statutory standards for relocation. Members found the proposal was based on “a realistic assessment of the Long Branch physical plant condition and potential for refurbishment, service area, and health care services.”
It concluded RWJBarnabas Health satisfied fiduciary and regulatory requirements by determining relocation was the best option to maintain service continuity, patient access, quality care and cost efficiency.
The board found the Long Branch facilities outdated and inadequate by modern standards, while determining the health system has sufficient financial capacity to complete the project.
The board said the move would remain within the same planning region, preserve access for historically served patients, maintain services for uninsured and underinsured residents, and retain a continued hospital presence in Long Branch, without adversely affecting regional health care delivery.
Conditions for Approval
The board approved the relocation subject to 17 conditions, including ensuring public outreach and communication notifying the community about all the plans related to the move, free shuttle transportation between Long Branch and Tinton Falls, and detailed transition, licensing and cost-certification requirements regarding the final project costs after the relocation is complete.
The hospital must also maintain a satellite emergency department with an observation unit in Long Branch indefinitely, along with outpatient clinics and a same-day surgery center for at least five years, while keeping psychiatric beds in Long Branch unless otherwise approved.
RWJBarnabas Health must prioritize hiring current Long Branch employees, continue charity care and comply with federal and state patient-protection laws. The conditions also require coordination with emergency medical services, annual reporting on transportation use, creation of a community advisory group to provide ongoing local input, and oversight mechanisms to ensure compliance, with all requirements applying to any successor organization for five years.
RWJBarnabas Reacts
RWJBarnabas Health welcomed the decision. “We are very pleased the state Health Planning Board unanimously voted to approve Monmouth Medical Center’s certificate of need application,” a spokesperson said. “We now look forward to the next phase of the process, in which Acting Health Commissioner Brown will review the application and make the final determination.”
RWJBarnabas Health owns the 13-acre Monmouth Medical Center campus in Long Branch. In 2022, the system purchased 36 acres in Tinton Falls at the former Fort Monmouth, including the former Myer research facility, now known as the Ann Vogel Medical Campus.
The original application, filed in April 2024, proposed splitting mandatory services between Long Branch and Tinton Falls under a single hospital license. That plan was amended in February 2025 to relocate all mandatory acute-care services to the new 252-bed hospital in Tinton Falls, about 6.5 miles west of Long Branch.
The project is estimated to cost $857 million. Construction is planned to begin in 2027, with licensing and relocation anticipated in 2029. Under the proposal, the Tinton Falls campus would include medical-surgical, intensive care, obstetrics, pediatric and neonatal beds. The Long Branch site would retain psychiatric beds, a 24-bed observation unit, a satellite emergency department, imaging services, outpatient surgery and specialty clinics. Free transportation would be provided between the two sites for patients, staff, and caregivers.
The article originally appeared in the January 1 – 7, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
