Jersey Shore Magazine

J e r s e y s h o r e • S p r i n g 2 0 1 6 68 JERSEY SHORE PROFILE TAKING CARE OF THE JERSEY SHORE, continued from page 67 Southern Ocean Medical Center In Manahawkin In the early 1970s, Southern Ocean County Hospital began as a dream for many residents of Long Beach Island. After many years of fundrais- ing, the facility opened in 1972 with 54 beds and seventeen physicians. The building underwent an expan- sion in 1980, and in 2010, Southern Ocean Medical Center changed its name and joined the Meridian network. Today, the facility has 176 beds with more than 230 physicians serv- ing those on Long Beach Island and the central Ocean County region. Bayshore Community Hospital In Holmdel The need for a hospital to serve the Bayshore community was identified in the 1960s, and in 1972, the doors to Bayshore Community Hospital opened with 158 beds. Over the years, Bayshore has seen a number of renovation and expansion projects, including adding an assisted living residence, the John Boyd and Kathryn Roberts Mitchell Pavilion for emergency and ambulatory care ser- vices, the Ganz Ambulatory Imaging Pavilion, and centers for Wound Healing, Bariatrics, and Sleep, just to name a few. Jersey Shore University Medical Center In Neptune The oldest network hospital is Jersey Shore University Medical Center. It began in 1904 as a 50-bed convalescent home for women and children in Spring Lake. The land was donated by Mrs. Albionia N. Whartenby and established the home as a memorial to her late daughter, Ann May Whartenby Robinson. The convalescent home was converted to a hospital in 1905, and was renamed the Ann May Memorial Homeopathic Hospital. In 1932, the 150-bed hospital relo- cated to Corlies Avenue in Neptune and was renamed the Raleigh Fitkin- Paul Morgan Memorial Hospital. Another name change occurred in 1966, when the facility was renamed Jersey Shore Medical Center - Fitkin Hospital. Several facility upgrades, renovations, and additions were made over the years. In 1990, Jersey Shore Medical Center opened both the region's only cardiac surgery program and the Jersey Shore Regional Trauma Center; it is the only Level II trauma center with pediatric commitment in both Monmouth and Ocean counties. In 2003, the facility became the Jersey Shore University Medical Center, reflecting its new status as a university hospital affiliate of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Today, the 620-bed regional med- ical center specializes in cardiac care and surgery, superior cancer care, innovative orthopedics and rehabili- tation, and the most comprehensive pediatrics care in the region. The emergency department entrance at Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin. Bayshore Community Hospital in Holmdel. Courtesy of Meridian Health Courtesy of Meridian Health

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