Congressman Pallone's Testimony on the Closing of Monmouth Medical Center Hospital in Long Branch
My name is Frank Pallone, and I represent Long Branch and much of the Jersey Shore in Congress.
Like so many of you, I’ve relied on Monmouth Medical Center Hospital in Long Branch during life’s hardest moments.
The plan to close the Long Branch hospital is a clear choice by RWJ Barnabas to put profits over people.
According to their application, they are planning to spend close to a billion dollars building a new hospital in Tinton Falls.
Yet, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch is not some defunct, failing hospital.
It is the 2nd best hospital in RWJ Barnabas Health’s system according to Newsweek’s Best Hospitals in New Jersey list for 2025.
Imagine the difference if even a fraction of that money went toward modernizing and strengthening Monmouth Medical Center right where it is here in Long Branch.
RWJ Barnabas originally put forth an application with my input to keep Monmouth Medical Hospital in Long Branch with acute care services while also building the new facility in Tinton Falls. This was a plan that was supported by many of us including neighboring hospital systems. Many of the letters of support that RWJ Barnabas includes in their application were based on this understanding.
But, suddenly last month RWJ amended their application to the state Department of Health forcing the hospital in Long Branch to close, gutting all acute care services from the city.
This amended application is being expedited without a fair process and I call upon the State Health Board to slow the process down so the amended application can be fully analyzed with input from the people in the Long Branch area most affected.
The amended application is over 200 pages. It became available to the public in mid-October. A public hearing was noticed in Long Branch in less than the 14-day requirement causing over 250 people to attend, not knowing it was postponed.
Then, the hearing was moved away from Long Branch where the hospital is located to this crowded room. I demand that another hearing be held in Long Branch before the State Health Board meets in Trenton.
What’s the rush here? The State Health Board risks making a recommendation on the amended application without sufficient input from the public.
The plan to close the Long Branch hospital is a clear choice by RWJ Barnabas to put profits over people.
According to their application, they are planning to spend close to a billion dollars building a new hospital in Tinton Falls.
Yet, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch is not some defunct, failing hospital.
It is the 2nd best hospital in RWJ Barnabas Health’s system according to Newsweek’s Best Hospitals in New Jersey list for 2025.
Imagine the difference if even a fraction of that money went toward modernizing and strengthening Monmouth Medical Center right where it is here in Long Branch.
RWJ Barnabas originally put forth an application with my input to keep Monmouth Medical Hospital in Long Branch with acute care services while also building the new facility in Tinton Falls. This was a plan that was supported by many of us including neighboring hospital systems. Many of the letters of support that RWJ Barnabas includes in their application were based on this understanding.
But, suddenly last month RWJ amended their application to the state Department of Health forcing the hospital in Long Branch to close, gutting all acute care services from the city.
This amended application is being expedited without a fair process and I call upon the State Health Board to slow the process down so the amended application can be fully analyzed with input from the people in the Long Branch area most affected.
The amended application is over 200 pages. It became available to the public in mid-October. A public hearing was noticed in Long Branch in less than the 14-day requirement causing over 250 people to attend, not knowing it was postponed.
Then, the hearing was moved away from Long Branch where the hospital is located to this crowded room. I demand that another hearing be held in Long Branch before the State Health Board meets in Trenton.
What’s the rush here? The State Health Board risks making a recommendation on the amended application without sufficient input from the public.
The damage won’t just stop here.
When hospitals in underserved areas close, surrounding hospitals pick up the slack.
In this case, Riverview and Jersey Shore will have to absorb many more patients in need, which will cause added financial strain and put them at risk.
This move may make RWJ Barnabas more profitable, but at what cost to the people in this room and in our community.
If RWJ and the State of New Jersey set this precedent, why wouldn’t other systems and RWJ Barnabas abandon more communities to build concierge hospitals away from poorer communities?
Health care isn’t a privilege reserved for the wealthy; it’s a human right.
Spending nearly a billion dollars to build a new hospital while abandoning this one is not just financially wasteful, it’s morally wrong.
We should not stay silent while corporate decisions based solely on their bottom-line erase decades of progress.
We will demand transparency, accountability, and fairness.
And we will keep reminding RWJ Barnabas Health of its non-profit mission: to serve all members of our communities with dignity, compassion, and respect no matter what their income happens to be.
Thank you.