"We got on a call with them literally on Monday, submitted an itemized list with delivery dates for everything that they could be helping us with and we literally had the money the next day," President and CEO Shereef Elnahal told NJBIZ.

The system's flagship hospital, Hackensack University Medical Center, has treated more than 60 patients to date – and that number is growing, President and CEO Robert Garrett said during a press conference Thursday afternoon alongside Gov. Phil Murphy and Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. 

“We’re trying to open up one in the south. I had a good conversation with some folks to try to do something in the south,” the governor said during a media appearance on the radio station 1010 WINS.

"As I look across this country what is emerging are pockets of intensity. ... You see that evolve, it depends on the distribution of the patient population. We are using data analytics to try and understand that better so we can predict what our capacity demands are going to be."

The recent development of the first implantable cardiac monitor and patient alerting system for acute coronary syndromes – and a time crunch – necessitated the move.

According to New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, the state will have 260 new beds by the end of Wednesday, with plans to add another 227 within the next four weeks.

On March 13, CEO Tom Polen met with the president, administration officials and other business leaders involved in efforts to expand access to testing and diagnostic development.

The BD MAX System is capable of analyzing 24 samples simultaneously, with each being evaluated in two to three hours.

“This only appears to be a fraction of the capacity that will be needed ...” the governor wrote in a letter to the president. “Our Department of Health projects that just within the next two weeks, we may need an additional 2,000 critical care beds, with 10 percent of these beds needing ventilators.”

The hospital has also re-enforced internal processes to prevent infection, including twice-daily employee screenings.

“There are some people think that this is fake news. … This is not fake news. This is real,” Gov. Phil Murphy said. “This is real. Stop believing folks that say this isn’t real.”

Without significant precautionary planning, the region could be short 85,000 hospital beds, a new report finds.