SUMMARY: This part 2 of a 2 part series. It provides the Q&A for a June 4, 2024 public meeting hosted by Virtua to discuss the hospital expansion in Mt. Holly.
ATTENDANCE:
· About 50 residents attended.
· Virtua was represented by a squad of Vice Presidents including: Todd Koretsky, Assistant VP for finance; Shannon Stillwell, VP and Chief Nursing Officer; and Julie Herb, Vice President of Facilities Development. Virtua also had its Engineer on hand and Robert Baranowski, an Attorney from Hyland, Levin Shapiro as well as a multiple other staff members.
· The Mayor and Township Manager of Mount Holly greeted Virtua officials but left before the meeting started.
FORMAT:
· The meeting lasted over an hour.
· Began with Julie Herb summarizing expansion details.
· Q&A followed. A time limit was not imposed on residents comments. Answers were attempted for every question. Virtua officials lingered after the meeting to field one on one questions.
· Virtua refused to allow video or audio recordings, claiming it was a policy designed to protect patient privacy, but the meeting was billed as a public event and held in a conference room far from any medical operations.
PRESENTATION
· Project will last from 2025 – 2029 or 2030.
· Virtua is at the end of the “design phase” and just submitted plans to Mount Holly’s Planning Board
· There are still some County and State applications that need to be submitted
· A walking park at the northern end of the campus demonstrates Virtua’s commitment to providing a beautiful space for visitors.
· The orientation and size of the new building prioritized light to surrounding buildings.
· Parking is all ground level and designed with rainwater absorbing features.
PLANNING
A number of resident questions regarding whether Virtua planned to acquire more land in the future and expand again. Virtua said it has no other plans to expand and stressed that expansion is a reaction to dynamic market forces which can’t be predicted. To give a sense of how its plans evolve it was stated that years ago land purchases were done based on merely an assumption that a “natural progression would be to the north at some point”. Julie Herb said that “property to the west of Madison doesn’t do anything for us… it has to be contiguous space”. With specific regard to the 4 acre vacant lot north of Cedar Avenue, Virtua said there is no plan to build there and that there may be a portion of it which is wetlands. But that land was acquired in the same unplanned way when a local realtor called to say it was available and just north of the hospital. An example of how the healthcare market is very dynamic was given to illustrate what might prompt further expansion: if Cooper decided to get out of oncology, Virtua might choose to fill that need by building an Oncology wing. A promise was made that “we will not be building higher” than the current height of our buildings.
EMINENT DOMAIN
Eminent Domain was broached multiple times as if it had occurred with regard to prior Virtua acquisitions. One resident accused Virtua of having “ripped off” residents. Ms. Herb stated that Virtua would not use eminent domain and that she was not aware of it having been done in any Virtua purchase. When asked if Virtua intended to acquire additional properties, Herb responded “No”.
Editorial Note: Eminent domain is a power reserved for government to compel private parties to sell property in support of a redevelopment plan. The Mount Holly Reporter asked if Virtua intended to influence Mt. Holly township to use its eminent domain power to acquire property for the purpose of hospital expansion and Ms. Herb said:
“Virtua has no intention of seeking to have Mount Holly utilize eminent domain in any property acquisitions.” Julie Herb, Virtua Vice President
Editorial Note: The persistent mentions of eminent domain by residents may be driven by the fact that in 2013, Mount Holly Twp was in litigation stemming from its use of eminent domain in “The Gardens” neighborhood. Mt Holly settled that litigation just before the US Supreme Court heard the case. The settlement is widely seen as fortunate since many believe the township would lose based on “disparate impact”.
https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/news/2015/06/25/u-s-supreme-court-rules/17543151007/
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Repeated comments were made about the demolition of a “historic” house on Cedar Avenue. Residents said the house was moved from Madison Avenue to Cedar in order to protect it. Virtua responded that “This was not an intentional thing” and the Township issued an permit and did not indicate that the house was on any kind of historic register. Brenda Oresic stated that the community is not interested in hairsplitting about a register.
“If Mount Holly had an objection, I wish they would have told us”. Julie Herb, Virtua
URGENT CARE
A question about Urgent Care noted that there is a persistent backlog of patients at Urgent Care centers and they are not open 24 hours. Since they often send patients to the ER, why not imbed an Urgent Care at the hospital to allow for faster service? Herb responded that the model has changed in recent years.
“We would never have placed a medical facility in a shopping center” in the past. But there is no plan to incorporate an Urgent Care since Virtua already has one in the system at a satellite location [Fairgrounds Plaza].
TAX FAIRNESS
See “Virtua Expansion – No Financial Metrics”
TRAFFIC
A traffic analysis was conducted and it was determined that there is no need for a light, but it was suggested that a lane should be added on a portion of Madison just north of Cedar Ave. This is where the traffic could flow around vehicles making a left turn onto the new section of Greenwood Ave. [see image - Greenwood will connect to Madison]. This will be a taking of the county easement, essentially removing the land that is currently a planting strip to widen the road.
CONSTRUCTION METHODS
In response to a number of questions about construction, Virtua stated that it will not do construction in the evening and will have vibration monitoring system running during construction.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
In response to a number of questions about environmental issues, Virtua stated that they do not know how man 25 year old trees are in the construction area {MH has an ordinance protected large trees}, but that there are lots of dead trees. When it was pointed out that a parkade building would significantly reduce runoff, Ms. Herb stated the Virtua Administrator is against parking garages and it would cost $80-$90 million more than the ground level parking.
COMMERCIAL “MEDICAL FACILITY” HOURS, CANNABIS AND CONTINUING EDUCATION
The Planning Board would have to hear and approve a facility like a Gym and rule on hours of operation, but Virtua said that if such a facility did come to the campus, they did not envision it operating into the evening hours. There is no plan to include Cannabis facility of any type. Virtua is “doing assessment constantly” about its continuing education offerings and would like to speak with residents about what is needed.
SURGICAL CAPABILITIES
There is no plan to expand capabilities at this time but we are actively assessing the potential to do so.