Medical campus will be named for local couple

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - CentraState Healthcare System has begun the largest construction project in its 35-year history, a 170,000-square-foot ambulatory campus. At the same time, officials announced a gift of more than $2 million, which is the largest donation the organization has ever received.

CentraState is building a three-story outpatient facility adjacent to the medical center on West Main Street (Route 537). Anchored by CentraState's Health Awareness Center and a comprehensive medical fitness facility, the complex will focus on wellness, fitness and rehabilitation. The building will connect to the hospital by an enclosed walkway at ground level.

According to a press release, CentraState projects the cost to develop, build and equip the ambulatory campus will be $48 million. Construction is expected to take 15 months.

"We are redefining our role as a community health system by offering more health and wellness choices," said John Gribbin, president and CEO, CentraState Healthcare System. "The value of ambulatory care to the community is reflected in the historic support we have received from individuals, businesses and foundations. We are grateful for their partnership as we find new ways to empower patients and clients to take charge of their own health."

During the ceremonial groundbreaking, officials with The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, New York City, made an outright gift of $1 million toward the construction of the ambulatory campus. The foundation agreed to match the first $25,000 of any donation of $25,000 or more, up to an additional $1.25 million. Combined, this represents the largest donation from a single donor to CentraState.

In recognition of this gift, the ambulatory campus will be named for a couple from Manalapan, Star and Barry Tobias. Barry Tobias is treasurer of The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and CEO of Peter Sharp and Co. Inc., a real estate development and property management firm.

To support the construction, CentraState Healthcare Foundation has kicked off a $10 million capital campaign co-chaired by Jack Collins, of Colts Neck, and Fred Morelli, of Manalapan, two members of the CentraState Healthcare System Board of Trustees. The fund drive is named "Building for Tomorrow's Healthcare."

OceanFirst Bank also announced a $300,000 donation toward the fund-raising effort, representing the largest gift CentraState has received from a New Jersey corporation or corporate foundation.

Previous donations to the construction project include a $1.5 million gift from Robert and Donna O'Donnell, of Millstone, and a $1.5 million gift from anonymous donors. Gifts to the project to date total more than $6 million, according to the press release.

Outpatient services moving from CentraState Medical Center to the ambulatory campus include intensive Rehabilitation, which encompasses physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, and centers for wound care, multiple sclerosis, and pain and spine treatments. The building also will house Cardiac Rehabilitation, the Center for Sleep Disorders, dialysis, private physician offices, and a refreshment area.

Once the new outpatient center is complete, CentraState is planning four major changes to its existing healthcare sites and services:

+ Create capacity for new medical-surgical inpatient beds.

+ Renovate the intensive care, intermediate care and pediatric departments, and make improvements to short stay and other ancillary units.

+ Move MRI services from the current building on the east side of the CentraState campus to the west side of the medical center, just north of the walkway connecting the hospital to the new ambulatory campus.

+ Transition the Donna O'Donnell, R.N., Medical Arts Building to a Comprehensive Community Cancer Center. The Women's Health Center and mammography program and the Jean Mehr infusion therapy program will move to that building, which already houses the Radiation Oncology Department.

CentraState Healthcare System is a nonprofit community health organization consisting of an acute care hospital, three senior living centers, a health education and activities center, a family medicine residency program, and a charitable foundation.

It is a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Health Network and a clinical research affiliate of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.