Somerset Medical Center

History

Our History
Somerset Medical Center Celebrating More Than 100 Years of Service

In 1899 a group of citizens and physicians who wanted better medical care for the residents of Somerset County purchased a house in Somerville and converted it into a 12bed hospital Today Somerset Medical Center is a nationally accredited 355bed regional medical center providing high quality care to people throughout Central New Jersey

In the Beginning
The story began in 1898 when a 16yearold boy from Somerville died after a serious head injury because he was unable to receive timely emergency treatment His death saddened the community and triggered a fundraising drive for a hospital A board of trustees was formed and Somerset Hospital was officially incorporated on December 6 1899

With 5500 raised through community donations the trustees purchased a home on East Main Street in 1900 After considerable refurbishing including the addition of running water and electricity it opened its doors as Somerset Hospital in 1901 with a staff of 10 doctors and 12 beds

The hospital was a focal point of community pride and medical service It acquired an Xray machine and lab equipment and established a firstrate operating room that was lauded as the finest outside of New York City with lights that could make it as bright as day inside

A nursing school was started in 1911 with the head nurse also serving as superintendent of the hospital During her tenure because of the great demand for hospital services many additions were made to the little house between 1911 and 1925 Still it eventually reached its capacity of 24 beds

A New Site
Once again the community supported a fundraising campaign and in August 1925 a quotnewquot Somerset Hospital was opened Accommodating 100 patients it was built on Rehill Avenue where todays medical center campus is located It boasted a modern lab delivery room and nursery mens and womens wards a wellequipped kitchen and stateoftheart operating rooms This facility cost almost 500000 to build about 100 times the cost of the first little house

The demand for hospital services kept growing and in 1946 it expanded to 190 beds with the new South Wing In 1953 Nelson O Lindley arrived from Bostons Beth Israel Hospital to become Somersets first professional administrator Under his guidance the North Wing was opened in 1956

In 1961 Fuld Auditorium was added Aside from hospital functions Fuld was and remains a community venue for meetings and other events In 1963 the East Wing opened bringing the total number of beds to 300 In 1972 the West Wing was completed bringing bed capacity to 350 while providing space for future expansion

Important changes continued In 1975 the American Medical Association approved the establishment of the hospitals threeyear Family Practice Residency Program The Medical Education building was built in 1977 for use by the public and hospital staff In 1978 a shortterm psychiatric care program which later became Behavioral Health Services was developed That year Somerset Hospital became Somerset Medical Center

Continued Modernization
In January 1985 the Same Day Center opened anticipating the growing trend toward sameday procedures and surgeries The Same Day Center was the first phase of a 15 million expansion and modernization project which also included the Clinical Laboratory one of the largest and bestequipped hospitalbased clinical laboratories in the state and the 75 million Center for Diagnostic Imaging In June 1990 the projects final phase was completed a 3000squarefootaddition to the Emergency Department

Next came a threeyear 46 million project with 58000 square feet of new construction 100000 square feet of renovations and 10 million in new equipment Completed in 1997 the projects areas of expansion new construction and renovation included the Same Day Center GI Center Cancer Services Baby Suites Breast Care Program Critical Care Pavilion major surgery suite and magnetic resonance imaging MRI service Pediatric Orthopedic PostAnesthesia and MedicalSurgical patient care units Rehabilitation Services including Physical and Occupational Therapy and the Eating Disorders Program

Modernization continued in the 1990s with another expansion of the Emergency Department and completion of a 65 million parking deck that provides parking for the convenience of patients their families and visitors The medical center also introduced new technologies programs and services such as a lowrisk adult Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory DEXA scan technology and a comprehensive Osteoporosis Program radioactive prostate seed implantation and a Sleep Disorders Center

In 1999 a spacious new main entrance and main lobby addition was completed providing a beautiful modern and comfortable lobby that is a central location for outpatients and inpatients to conveniently access admitting and testing services Through a generous corporate contribution the lobby is now complemented by a lovely player piano

New Technology

Since 2004 the medical center has invested more than 10 million in upgrading its information technology system to make care more efficient and improve patient safety This initiative which includes a computerized physician order entry system electronic medical records and a picture archiving and communications system earned the medical center national recognition in 2005 as one of Hospitals amp Health Networks quotMost Wiredquot hospitals Somerset Medical Center was named one of the five finalists in the 2006 quotIT Transformational Leadership Awardquot from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and Center for Healthcare Transformation for its successful implementation of an integrated medical record system and computerized physician order entry system In 2008 63 of the medical centers physicians entered their orders via computer an achievement attained by only 6 of hospitals nationwide

Committed to providing the highest quality care to the Somerset County community the medical center has made significant investments in new technologies and new facilities The medical center recently completed a fouryear 100 million expansion and renovation project the largest in its history The centerpiece of this expansion is the medical centers new 40000squarefoot Emergency Department which opened in 2005 The facility is one of the largest bestequipped emergency departments in New Jersey featuring a 14bed Express Care area for patients with minor ailments onsite radiology and laboratory services specialized treatment areas for children and patients with cardiac gynecologic psychiatric and orthopedic emergencies and a spacious waiting area A new 70bed inpatient pavilion also opened in 2005 offering hotelcaliber amenities for oncology and medicalsurgical patients including full bathrooms flatscreen televisions DVD players and sleeper sofas allowing family members to stay overnight Seven new operating suites were added expanding the medical centers capabilities to perform the latest minimally invasive surgical procedures

The Sports Performance amp Rehabilitation Center located at TD Bank Ballpark home of the Somerset Patriots baseball team offers the latest sports medicine and outpatient rehabilitative services to help athletes of all ages and abilities enhance their skills and maintain a competitive edge Focusing on injury prevention the center brings the Medical Centers health care expertise to the community and provides a comprehensive approach to wellness

In 2006 the medical center became one of nine New Jersey hospitals without onsite cardiac surgery to begin performing elective coronary angioplasties as part of a threeyear multistate clinical trial

In 2007 the medical center opened The Steeplechase Cancer Center a 28 million facility that centralized all outpatient cancer care services in one location for the first time including radiation therapy the Sanofiaventis US Breast Care Program infusion therapy the medical centers oncology research team oncologists offices the Sanofiaventis US Wellness Boutique complementary medicine services and nutritional counseling The Steeplechase Cancer Center is designated as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and is a clinical research affiliate of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey The Sanofiaventis US Breast Care Center has been designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology one of only 12 centers in New Jersey to earn this distinction

The medical center also expanded its Sleep for Life Center in 2007 opening a new 20bed 14000squarefoot facility in Hillsborough that is one of the largest most hightech and bestequipped sleep disorders centers in the nation Sleep for Life is unique in its holistic approach to the treatment of sleep disorders While most other sleep disorders facilities simply offer testing services Sleep for Life also has dedicated sleep medicine physicians to provide complete health assessments testing and followup care all under one roof The center recently received Accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

In 2008 the medical center opened its new Medical Coordination Center one of nine designated by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services to coordinate health care resources in the event of a disaster situation in the SomersetHunterdonMercer county region

In addition the medical center was recently designated as a primary stroke center by The Joint Commission the nations predominant accrediting health care organization and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services These certifications are testament to the medical centers high level of care and assure our community that they will have timely access to expert stroke care close to home giving them the best chance for a full recovery

The medical center is the recipient of the 2009 HealthGrades Orthopedic Surgery Excellence AwardTM and is ranked among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationally for overall orthopedic surgery