BARNEGAT – Local officials formally welcomed a new women’s healthcare facility to Barnegat 67 at a special ribbon cutting ceremony recently.
The location acts as the second of six planned off-campus sites of Community Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility. It also represents a collaboration with Ocean Women’s Health Care Group, PA, a practice of the Combined Medical Group of RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Health.
Patrick Ahearn, Chief Executive Officer, Community Medical Center described the circumstances that led to the possibility of opening a satellite facility in Barnegat.
“Five years ago, I got off the Parkway at this exit just as they were beginning to build here,” said Ahearn. “I saw it as a great place for people to notice the RWJBarnabas name when they were sitting at the light.”
Brand recognition aside, the need for additional health services in southern Ocean County represented a reality. Although hospital officials turned their initial focus to women’s health, the Barnegat location may add other primary care services in the future.
“If people don’t need to come to the hospital,” Ahearn explained. “We want to bring great services to them in the community.”
Ocean Women’s Health Care Group opened its doors in July and offers a full range of gynecologic and obstetric services for women of all ages – from adolescence through menopause and beyond. Lauren Mason Cederberg, MD; James McDermott, DO; Amadi Rezai, MD and Anupama Sunkavalli, MD head up the team, which relocated its offices from Route 72 in Manahawkin.
The new women’s healthcare facility now becomes the largest tenant in Barnegat 67, with over 12,000 square feet and room for expansion. A state-of-the-art lab and imaging center will officially open on October 26th at the multi-use complex, located at 770 Lighthouse Drive.
Alexander King, MD, Southern Regional Director of Breast Radiology said the new imaging center represented an expansion of services offered from the RWJBarnabas Breast Center’s Toms River offices.
“Our patients will have the added benefit of having resources available to them through Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey,” shared King. “It is our state’s only national cancer institute designated as a comprehensive cancer center.”
The newly opened lab and women’s imaging services offers a range of services including outpatient laboratory services, 3D mammography, screening ultrasounds, general ultrasounds for female patients, and DEXA scans for bone density testing.
Along with increased availability of health services, the new location brings nearly two dozen new jobs into Barnegat.
“As Patrick (Ahearn) said, this was trees and then it was an empty lot and people were upset,” said Mayor Al Bille. “With this opening, Barnegat 67 is blossoming into something that is so useful and necessary.”
Community Medical Center/RWJBarnabas Health opened its first off-site in Forked River, offering outpatient lab services in collaboration with Forked River Primary Care, a practice of the Combined Medical Group of RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Health.
