Pallone to State: Closing Our Hospital Would Be A Disaster For Long Branch Area Residents

LONG BRANCH, N.J. - At today's final State Health Planning Board hearing on RWJ Barnabas Health's plan to close Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) hospital in Long Branch, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) delivered testimony in opposition to RWJ Barnabas's plan to close one of New Jersey's best hospitals.

"Simply put, RWJ Barnabas' plan to close the Long Branch hospital puts profits over people. Period. They are abandoning a poorer, more diverse city for a significantly wealthier, less diverse suburb," Pallone said.

Pallone has opposed the disastrous plan from day one, arguing that RWJ Barnabas is abandoning a lower-income area to build a concierge hospital in Tinton Falls. For months, he has demanded fair hearings and an opportunity for community members to be heard after two chaotic and inaccessible hearings: one announced illegally, the other held in a cramped off-site venue in Eatontown where opponents were left outside in the freezing cold while RWJBarnabas employees filled the seats. Today's is the final public hearing before RWJ Barnabas's plan is approved by state officials.

Prepared Testimony of Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr.

State Health Planning Board - December 4, 2025

Check Against Delivery

My name is Frank Pallone, and I represent Long Branch and much of Monmouth and Middlesex Counties.

Simply put, RWJ Barnabas' plan to close the Long Branch hospital puts profits over people. Period.

They are abandoning a poorer, more diverse city for a significantly wealthier, less diverse suburb.

Monmouth Medical Center's most recent Community Health Needs Assessment - a rigorous review of its communities' health needs - underscores why Long Branch needs an acute care hospital.

Long Branch has a 16.2% poverty rate, one of the highest in the county. Monmouth Medical Center's assessment estimates over 5,8000 uninsured residents, the highest in the county.

Many Latino and Hispanic residents face transportation barriers, and Long Branch has the highest rate of foreign-born residents and foreign language speakers in the county.

The loss of Monmouth Medical Center Hospital in Long Branch would place an undue burden on both Jersey Shore Medical Center and Riverview Hospital, both closer to Long Branch than a new hospital in Tinton Falls.

The Health Department staff recommendations do not take into account the actual travel time.

Have you ever tried to travel from Long Branch to Tinton Falls in July or August along Route 36? It's literally bumper to bumper and adds a half hour to your travel time.

The Health Department staff recommendations provide no analysis of the actual need for an acute care hospital in Long Branch or the shift of the Long Branch area residents to the two nearby Hackensack Meridian Hospitals.

The staff essentially says it doesn't matter since the new hospital in Tinton Falls is still in the Monmouth Medical Center service area.

But that begs the question of the true medical needs of the Long Branch area residents and the overcrowding resulting from thousands of new patients, many uninsured or on Medicaid that will go to Jersey Shore Hospital and Riverview Medical Center.

Financially, this move allows RWJBarnabas Health to drop Medicaid and uninsured patients while capturing wealthier ones, jeopardizing the stability of other hospitals in the area.

The application before you is significantly amended from the one filed by RWJBarnabas last year that retained Monmouth Medical Center hospital in Long Branch. The amended application seeks to transfer the hospital license from our city and eliminate acute inpatient services at Long Branch.

The Health Department staff recommendations insist that the Long Branch Hospital license be transferred to Tinton Falls because neither location would have the full complement of mandatory hospital services necessary for a general acute care hospital.

But, that is a mischaracterization of the initial application. The new hospital in Tinton Falls could have the full complement of mandatory hospital services and therefore qualify as a general hospital.

The most important acute care services that the initial application retained in Long Branch were; inpatient medical surgery and beds capable of being made into ICU units when necessary. This took into account the real needs of Long Branch area residents.

The Health Department staff recommendations do provide that the Long Branch campus offer other acute care services such as a satellite emergency department, a 24-bed observation unit, an outpatient surgery center with specialty clinics and imaging services. So why can't Long Branch include acute inpatient surgery and beds that are ICU adaptable as originally proposed?

Also, why do the Health Department staff only recommend that the satellite emergency department remains in Long Branch indefinitely? Both our inpatient surgery and operating rooms and beds as well as all the outpatient services specified by the Health Department Staff should be mandated indefinitely, not just for five years. Anything that is mandated for a certain period of time would allow for RWJ Barnabas to transition out that service and close it down.

Our representatives in the state legislature have introduced bills that would require that both the existing inpatient and outpatient surgery services remain in Long Branch. There is no reason why the Health Planning Board can't do the same.

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