Hundreds of patients move to northern New Jersey hospital on first day of service

Ambulances shuttled hundreds of patients to a new northern New Jersey hospital complex on Sunday, completing a move years in the making.

The new Valley Hospital in Paramus, N.J. welcomed patients for the first time at 6 a.m., just as the former hospital building in Ridgewood, N.J. shuttered.

The Bergen Record reported 75 ambulances moved more than 200 patients over the course of several hours, along with their equipment. Hospital staff originally projected that 300 patients would be making the move on the Ridgewood hospital’s last day.

Valley Health System CEO Audrey Meyers celebrated the relocation effort in a recorded statement released the morning of the move, saying it would enable staff to enhance "clinical care and service" while maintaining "compassion” for patients at the hospital.

Officials decided to relocate the facility in 2017, citing a need for more state-of-the-art facilities. Crews broke ground on the Paramus site in November 2019.

The new, 910,000-square-foot hospital cost almost $900 million dollars to construct, according to hospital documents from 2023.

Officials have touted the new building as a step into the future, with 370 single-occupancy rooms for patients and a larger Emergency Department.

However, the new building lacks both an outpatient laboratory and diagnostic imaging services. Administrators have said those services will remain at the Ridgewood site, which Valley Health System will convert into an outpatient medical facility.