(201) Health 2019 Edition | Page 23

NEW ADVANCEMENTS 1976 Exterior view of The Valley Hospital circa 1978. SATELLITE EXPANSION By 1976, hospital officials had started to consider expansion through satellite facilities. They nonetheless enlarged the X-ray department, improved the pediatric area and pushed for the demolition of the 88,000-square-foot Linwood building to make way for a 193,000-square-foot addition and an underground garage. Approved by local planners in 1983, the $55-million project was later amended to a $70 million project and subsequently rejected by town council members after neighbors protested. The hospital won the resulting court battle in 1984, but was made to stick to its original plan to increase capacity from 387 to 421, and to add new surgical facilities. Now up to 451 beds, Valley is staffed by more than 1,100 physicians, 3,700 employees and 3,000 volunteers. Further expansion looms, but not in Ridgewood. ROBOTS HELP HUMANS Dr. Anthony Delfico, Director of Orthopedic Surgery at Valley ROBOTIC ARM HELPS HUMANS WITH THEIR JOINT REPLACEMENTS 2016 DOUBLE THE SIZE A rendering showing the proposed Valley Hospital location in Paramus. In 2016, after another court battle, hospital officials obtained a key approval for a $750 million project that would have doubled the hospital’s size but retained similar capacity. However, residents protested the project’s scale and, in 2018, hospital offi- cials started fundraising for the construction of a new 372-bed hospital in Paramus. THE NEW FACILITY ON 40 ACRES near the hospital’s outpatient cancer services is expected to cost $738 million and TO OPEN IN 2023 . Under a settlement reached with the Ridgewood Village Council, services including urgent care, nutrition programs and diagnostic imaging could remain at the hospital’s original campus. The orthopedic surgeons at The Valley Hospital are partnering with the Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgical System for less painful partial knee, total knee and hip replacements that require shorter recovery times. With Mako, orthopedic surgeons can provide each patient with a personalized surgical experience using CT-based 3D modeling of bone anatomy. Surgeons then create a personalized surgical plan. Dr. Anthony Delfico, director of orthopedic surgery, performed the hospital’s first robotic-assisted partial knee replacement. “The Mako System is transforming joint replacement surgery by allowing us to tailor our surgical procedures to each patient’s individual needs and anatomy,” he says. “We are proud to be the first hospital in Bergen County to offer this highly advanced robotic technology.” — CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER (201) HEALTH 2019 EDITION 19