Princeton Medical Center is considering expanding its facilities in the coming years as it undergoes a transition in management.
University students, faculty and staff frequently use the hospital for medical care, said Pamela Bowen, director of University health services.
PMC president Dennis Doody told the Princeton Regional Planning Board on March 20 that the medical center must expand if it is to satisfy the needs of the local and broader community in the future.
Bowen declined to comment yesterday on the PMC expansion and said the University does not plan to outsource or send more students than usual to the medical center in the near future.
Doody also announced that he will resign on Monday. The PMC board has named Barry Rabner his successor.
The discussion of PMC expansion during a change in top management is "a little bit premature," said Carol Norris, a spokeswoman for the medical center.
She said, however, that PMC is "very seriously considering the expansion of its emergency department due to an increase in the number of patients."
Norris did not attribute the increase in emergency care patients to the University. She said it is mostly because of a fast-track program PMC implemented during the past few years.
The goal of the fast-track program is for people with minor conditions, such as a sprained ankle or sore throat, to be examined and released in one hour, Norris said.
Before the program, all walk-in cases were treated as emergencies, and patients with less severe conditions had to wait long periods so doctors could first treat patients with worse conditions.
Last year, PMC had 36,845 emergency visits, 10,000 of which were fast-track patients, Norris said. In 1998, PMC had 31,000 visits. About 5,000 were fast-track patients, she said.
Norris said PMC is also planning to expand its programs that would be able to aid patients who have been victims of a biological attack.
Last year, anthrax-laden letters were mailed to top U.S. officials and media personalities from the Trenton area, passing through a postal facility located in Princeton. There were several anthrax scares at the University, but anthrax was never found on campus.
"We are going to enhance our ability to treat victims of bioterror," Norris said. "We've enhanced our disaster preparedness plan significantly so that it includes a response to bioterrorism, and staff has been trained."
Norris emphasized that the hospital is not planning to build a new bioterrorism facility but will focus on being better prepared.
The central concern surrounding the expansion of PMC — which takes up a city block about a mile from the University — is that the medical center is located in a residential zone, but it conducts business activities, such as fund-raising and public relations.
N.J. courts have ruled, however, that the presence of a medical center provides a benefit to the community that overrides the normal zoning rules.
They have ordered the Princeton zoning board to work with PMC to develop the best expansion plan.
The most likely action includes expansion to the east onto Harris Road.
PMC has 450 beds and serves Princeton Borough, Princeton Township and 15 nearby towns.
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