For Immediate Release
December 18, 2007
Contact: Michael Valentino
732-751-7538
mvalentino@meridianhealth.com

SAFETY FIRST: OSHA AND JERSEY SHORE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER FORM SAFETY PARTNERSHIP

Collaborative partnership aims to maximize safety during construction of the $300 million Transforming Care: the ‘New’ Jersey Shore expansion project

Neptune, NJ - Jersey Shore University Medical Center and construction contractor LF Driscoll have signed a strategic partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to maximize safety, and work collaboratively with OSHA during the medical center’s $300 million expansion project. Through the voluntary OSHA Strategic Partnership program, Jersey Shore, LF Driscoll, and OSHA will work together in addressing critical safety issues, developing clear safety goals and strategies, and measure results.

“Safety is our top priority at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and Meridian Health,” says Steve Littleson, FACHE, president of Jersey Shore University Medical Center. “We believe that providing a safe environment for our patients, visitors, and staff is accomplished through collaboration and teamwork at all levels of our organization, and are very excited to work together with LF Driscoll and OSHA in a way that exemplifies that high level of collaboration.”

OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program is part of U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao's ongoing efforts to improve the health and safety of employees through cooperative relationships with trade associations, labor organizations, employers and employees. More than 1.2 million employees and more than 21,000 employers across the United States have participated with OSHA in 484 strategic partnerships since the program began in 1998.

The “Transforming Care: the ‘New’ Jersey Shore” project consists of a new patient care pavilion featuring all-private rooms; a state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment building offering the latest technology, surgical suites; a new emergency department and trauma center with the ability to annually treat over 100,000 patients; a new parking garage to ease parking strains; and extensive renovations throughout existing buildings.

The project ground breaking was held in June 2006, and has continued to progress ahead of schedule, with the first phase of the hospital’s new parking garage now open, the new Diagnostic and Treatment building expected to be complete in the later part of 2008, the Northwest Pavilion following in 2009, and complete renovations throughout the hospital continuing through 2010.

“Starting with our unique design process, the collaborative partnerships we have formed, and the many innovative initiatives we have implemented, the 'transformation' of Jersey Shore has clearly not been your average construction project,” says Littleson. “Through this partnership, we continue to create one of the most innovative hospital construction projects in the nation.”

With an effort to make both the construction process and finished buildings state-of-the-art, Jersey Shore’s expansion project has included an innovative design process which included the hospital’s nurses, administrators, and staff working alongside the project architects and engineers. That collaborative approach continued through close partnerships with the medical center’s neighbors, Neptune Township administration, and local community groups, including the Shark River Cleanup Coalition, which assisted Jersey Shore in the development of a new state-of-the-art storm water management plan that will treat both the medical center’s and over 100 additional acres of surrounding properties storm water drainage that today is left untreated flowing into the Shark River.

The project has also registered for the prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) designation, which sets high standards for designing, building and operating high-performance environmentally-friendly “green” buildings.

“Our goal is to be the premier independent academic medical center in New Jersey, a goal that benefits our entire community by delivering the very best health care experience,” says Littleson. “We have worked very hard to ensure that every part of this transformation is completed in the best way possible, and this partnership with OSHA is another excellent example of that commitment.”

About Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Jersey Shore University Medical Center, a member of the Meridian Health family, is a not-for-profit university teaching and home to the K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital – the first children’s hospital in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Jersey Shore is the regional provider of cardiac surgery, a program which has been ranked among the best in the Northeast, and is home to the only trauma center and nationally-designated stroke center in the region. Jersey Shore University Medical Center specializes in cardiac care and surgery, orthopedics and rehabilitation, cancer care, and advanced women’s and children’s health services.

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