Hackensack University Medical Center Reopens Cafeteria Nearly Two Years to the Day the Hospital was Forced to Convert the Space into a 74-Bed COVID-19 Treatment Unit

Today, a sense of normalcy returned to Hackensack University Medical Center where team members and hospital visitors could grab a cup of coffee, a slice of pizza, a sandwich, or sit down to enjoy a full meal in the hospital’s  cafeteria. And more importantly fellowship with each other.

Nearly two years to the day, the Medical Center, one of NJ’s largest hospitals, took an innovative approach to expand capacity to accommodate the surge in COVID-19 cases in 2020 by redesigning the cafeteria, into specialized care units for patients battling the coronavirus.

In a period of six days, the plant operations team converted the space by  taking out windows, putting up walls, installing oxygen lines, negative air flow to vent out the rooms and so much more - working hand in hand with IT who established the technology infrastructure. 

As part of a rapid-response expansion project, the hospital converted cafeteria space into a 74-bed unit to treat COVID-19 patients in non-intensive care beds. At the height of the pandemic, in April of 2020, the state of New Jersey reported more than 34,000 confirmed cases and called on all hospitals to double their critical care beds to meet a goal of 4,000 beds statewide.  

Fast forward two years, New Jersey and the country have made tremendous progress in the fight against COVID-19. Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to decline  and millions of people are at much lower risk of getting very sick from COVID-19.

“I’m so proud of the care we provide our communities, especially during this unprecedented pandemic,” said Mark D. Sparta, President & Chief Hospital Executive, Hackensack University Medical Center President North Region, Hackensack Meridian Health. “Our hospital was at the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the northeast. Together, our entire team not only navigated the early days of the pandemic, they built a dynamic path forward helping thousands of  patients recover and also go home to their families and today, being able to reopen our cafeteria is a major milestone symbolic of our return to normalcy.”