On Jan. 16, Atlantic Health System celebrated the completion of the $97 million expansion of Overlook Medical Center‘s East Building. 

The three-story, 78,000-square-foot expansion comes as part of Overlook Ahead – a $168.1 million plan to transform the Summit campus. 

The East Building project provides new, state-of-the art spaces for maternity care, cardiology, critical care and neuroscience, Atlantic Health said in a Jan. 17 announcement. 

“This building, and most importantly the care that will be provided here, truly embodies our vision for the future of acute care,” Stephanie Schwartz, president of Overlook Medical Center and senior vice president, Atlantic Health System, said in a statement. “It is no secret that health care is changing fast. We need to stay ahead of the curve, to continue to provide the best care to our community and meet the needs of our region.” 

The East Building expansion project includes:  

• Renovation of a 42,000-square-foot, two-story section of the hospital 
• A new eighth floor on top of the existing building  
• A three-story addition at the end of the building 
• An enlarged bridge connecting to the main hospital  
• A new patient transport elevator tower 

The East Building now features: 

• The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey Newborn and Family Care Unit – a new post-partum unit, on the sixth floor. The expanded space in the Frank and Mimi Walsh Maternity Center features new C-section operating rooms, birthing suites and private postpartum rooms near the renovated neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The new space will also include the Summit Foundation Nursery. 
• The FM Kirby Foundation Neuroscience Center – what the hospital describes as a “neuroscience super-unit,” will include the Jeneil B. Reeves Neuro ICU on the seventh floor. The redesigned inpatient unit will join the neuroscience team on one floor, with all private patient rooms. The unit includes an enlarged Neuro Intensive Care Unit with rooms designed to care for acute stroke and post-operative spine and brain tumor patients. The unit also includes a new epilepsy monitoring unit, dedicated neurosurgical operating rooms and a new outpatient space. 
• The Kevin Bell, MD Critical Care Unit – on the eighth floor, featuring newly designed, larger private rooms. 
• The Wilf Family Cardiology Center – located on the eighth floor, is a new state-of-the-art cardiology unit with single rooms. It also features the new Hartman Satellite Caregivers Center, an extension of The Thomas Glasser Caregivers Center, for patients’ families. 
• Additional features include a satellite pharmacy, a dedicated patient transport system, and a small office area and elevator lobby on the fifth floor as well as a new mechanical chiller plant below the building addition. 

Each of the units is expected to open pending regulatory approvals over the next several weeks, according to Atlantic Health. Torcon Construction and Buckl Architects were enlisted for construction and planning on the project, respectively. 

Pandemic planning 

While design of the expansion began in 2019, construction was put on hold in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pause allowed for revised plans to accommodate for future outbreaks. The project broke ground in November 2022.   

“The building was designed with the thought of another pandemic in mind,” said Andrew Restivo, project manager for the department of construction for Atlantic Health System. 

Other health care projects around the state, including the new Valley Hospital in Paramus, were also able to pivot mid-design to accommodate for a future pandemic. 

Such precautions at the Overlook facility include “the ability to use 100% outside air with all necessary HEPA filtration to ensure no airborne illnesses will recirculate back into the facility,” among other innovative designs, Restivo said. 

Nearing the finish 

Atlantic Health said, with the East Building project completion, Overlook has now transformed more than 80% of its patient care areas, such as the Hersh Children’s Center. 

The Overlook Ahead plan is supported by community donations to the Overlook Foundation, funding secured in the state budget as well as hospital capital funding.