The basics:

• Valley Health expansion proposal includes 100-bed patient care wing
• New parking structure also planned for Paramus campus
• Patient volumes rose across key services between 2024 and 2025
• Construction could begin in 2027, pending approvals

Two years after relocating from Ridgewood to Paramus, Valley Health System is looking to expand its state-of-the-art campus.

During a July 16 appearance before the Paramus Planning Board, Valley executives presented conceptual plans that include the addition of a patient care wing with 100 licensed beds and a new parking structure.

Since beginning its next chapter in the heart of one of Bergen County’s busiest municipalities, the healthcare system says it has experienced record growth.

Already one of North Jersey’s busiest hospitals and multispecialty networks, Valley recorded the following year-to-year increases between 2024 and 2025:

• 4,459 babies born up 14.2%
• 31,991 hospital admissions up 6.1%
• 81,664 emergency department visits up 4.3%

Looking ahead, Valley says it expects increased demand for healthcare as the population ages, chronic conditions become more prevalent, and advances in medicine enable earlier diagnosis and treatment.

Valley President and CEO Dr. Robert Brenner shared, “The continued growth in patient demand at Valley reflects the trust our communities place in us and reinforces the need to plan thoughtfully for the future.”

According to Valley, the proposed patient care wing would create a dedicated specialty inpatient pavilion designed to support high-demand clinical services. It would integrate into the existing hospital structure with a design to complement the overall architecture, the network added.

Valley did not say how large the addition would be nor how many parking spaces the deck would include.

While the project is still in the planning stages and subject to completion of design work, regulatory approvals and municipal review, Valley hopes to begin construction in 2027.

‘The mission remains unchanged’

Brenner said, “For 75 years, The Valley Hospital has served the community with a mission to provide high-quality, accessible healthcare. This mission remains unchanged. The concepts presented to the Paramus Planning Board act upon this mission, ensuring that we can continue to accommodate future patient demand while providing our patients with the highest standards of care in a state-of-the-art facility.”

Located on Winters Avenue, Valley’s 370-bed, 910,000-square-foot, seven-floor acute care hospital is the centerpiece of a 40-acre campus that unites inpatient care with the network’s wide range of outpatient services.

Designed to adapt to the changing health care needs of the state’s most diverse and heavily populated area, Valley Hospital’s key features include single-patient rooms for privacy and healing, an expanded emergency department, larger operating rooms, the latest technology and park-like grounds.

Additionally, the campus integrates the system’s existing facilities across the street from the new hospital: Valley’s medical arts building and the Robert and Audrey Luckow Pavilion, which provides same-day surgery, cancer care and retail pharmacy services.

The new $868 million facility replaced the network’s longtime facility on North Van Dien Avenue in Ridgewood. That site remains open for some services, such as imaging, lab work, endoscopy and the breast center.

Valley initially sought to expand that location, but after encountering pushback from the village it decided in 2017 to withdraw the proposal and build a new facility in Paramus.