Opened just four years ago, the Inspira Medical Center Hospital in Mullica Hill is planning a large expansion which includes a new five-story 102-bed tower that increases the number of beds by approximately 50%!
The new tower will total 150,000 square feet, and will also contain space for associated diagnostic treatment facilities, support administration, and additional shell space.
A second new development area near the front of the hospital will see the expansion of the Maternal Child Health units on the second floor at the front of the building. Identified as an “overbuild” it will be developed over top of the front dining/cafeteria areas.
To support the new building additions, Inspira will be adding 477 new parking spaces which will be developed in two phases.
Additional updates and renovations are identified in other areas such as in the first floor, including a dining area expansion as well as changes in the receiving and storage spaces.
The project is scheduled for review by the Harrison Township Joint Land Use Board on Thursday April 4th. Inspira is looking for Preliminary and Final Site Plan approval of the project.
42Freeway reached out to Inspira this morning for a comment on the project but the response was not available at the time of publication.
In December, Harrison Township Mayor Louis Manzo spoke to The Sun Newspapers (article link) about the Township’s upcoming 2024 initiatives, and the Mayor spoke of the upcoming hospital expansion.
In that Sun article the Mayor expressed excitement for having the current hospital in Harrison Township, and also mentioned that Inspira had already announcing plans to build an additional tower at the hospital. He went on to say the facility and location has proven to be a resounding success in the area.
This is the second large project for the important Rt 55 and 322 intersection, as directly on the other side of Mullica Hill Road, Rowan is developing the Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine. 42Freeway wrote about that project earlier this month.
Inspira Mullica Hill Medical Center – New Tower
The still new hospital opened on Route 322 in Harrison in 2019. The original buildings are positioned in a crescent shape with a curved front entrance drive.
To maintain that core curved façade, the new tower will be built protruding from the back of the building, just off center on the left side… the side closer to Dr Leo J McCabe Blvd.
When originally opened, the Inspira Hospital was stated to have 467,000 square feet.
This new tower edition at 150,000 square feet is then about 1/3 the size of the original hospital and will bring the total size to over 600,000 square feet. It’s a significant expansion, and further proves the success and need for the Medical Center in this section of Gloucester County.
Several of the floors of the new tower will be allocated for new patient beds, and as you would expect are positioned along the outer windows. The center area of those floors is allocated for nursing and medical staff as well as storage and other medical support spaces.
The second floor of the tower is to be configured for a variety of patient uses including Med Surg support, providing many observation and prep recovery patient areas. The smaller room size requirements for these short-term patient spaces has enabled them to put 4 hallways heading down the long end of the building.
While I call it out two core expansion areas, there will also be additional improvements in related portions of the existing hospital building such as an area identified as sterile storage.
Inspira Medical Center Expansion – Maternal Child Health
The second floor Maternal Child Health area will see significant upgrades with an expansion in the front of the building, developed as an “overbuild”… built overtop of the dining/cafeteria area.
The expansion will create a postpartum patient rooms section at the front of the hospital, as well as updates to several areas in the extended unit such as the Intermediate Care Nursery, Lactation Consult Offices, OB assessment areas, On-Call Staff section and more.
Growth Support – Parking / Dining
The Inspira Hospital parcel totals 100-acres at Route 322 and the Route 55 exit. While a good portion of the land is developed for the original hospital, they do have significant acreage to support the expansion and future parking needs.
To that point the new expansion will include an additional 477 parking spaces which will be developed along Dr Leo J McCabe Blvd.
This new parking area is basically an extension of the existing parking, and it is being designed to just fit in perfectly to what is already in place and once developed people won’t even realize that it’s been at this.
As mentioned, to also accommodate the expand square footage which will bring more staff and visitors, additional dining room space will be added as well as growth and changes in general hospital support spaces.
Links and Location
Inspira Medical Center – Mullica Hill
700 Mullica Hill Rd
Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
Harrison Township Joint Land Use Board (“JLUB”)
Thursday, April 4, 2024. 7:00 p.m.
Harrison Township Municipal Building
114 Bridgeton Pike
Mullica Hill, New Jersey 08062,