SED Wins Final Site Plan Approval

This post was inadvertently not published Thursday. Sorry for the lapse.

Planners gave final site plan approval Thursday for the relocation of a satellite emergency department from the former Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center to Kenyon House.

The new location is at the northeast corner of the 17-acre campus. Preliminary site plan approval was granted in May, with 11 conditions to be met before final approval. Planning Director Bill Nierstedt said six had been resolved before the meeting. Of the remaining five issues, signage and community outreach generated the most comment from board members and the public Thursday.

Despite the fact that there is no longer a hospital at the site, engineer Matthew Robinson said the blue-and-white "H" symbol was standard throughout the nation could still be used to direct drivers to the SED. The proposed new sign was to have "JFK Muhlenberg" over "Satellite Emergency Department" below the H symbol, but speakers asked for the sign to be modified to emphasize the SED. All current "H" signs in Plainfield and nearby towns will be replaced with the revised one.

Commenters on the sign included Anna Belin, Tom Kaercher, Nancy Piwowar, Dr. Harold Yood, Dottie Gutenkauf, Cheryl Bullock and Deborah Dowe. Several called the "H" misleading. Piwowar suggested adding the new information separately. Gutenkauf called for an emphasis on "emergency" rather than "satellite," saying, "The signs need to be extremely specific," but experts for Muhlenberg said they had to use the terminology dictated by state regulations.

Another signage issue, a listing of community services offered at the SED, will be resolved by posting them near the entrance. They include outpatient testing and imaging and certain medical and social services.

In answer to board member Emmett Swan's questions about community outreach, JFK Health System Vice President for Corporate Facilities Frank Tsemberlis said it is done in a number of ways. Swan suggested linking to the Senior Center, developing bilingual information, publishing a newsletter and holding health fairs.

Tsemberlis had already sent the Planning Division a letter detailing community outreach services and copies were made and distributed to board members and the public Thursday. According to the letter, marketing efforts for the SED will include direct mail cards to all Plainfield households, print ads, cable TV notices and information to be posted on the city web site.

Board Chairman Ron Scott-Bey suggested linking with the Plainfield Health Center. For a city liaison, Nierstedt suggested Health Officer Denise Proctor.

The SED relocation will leave the largest of three parcels on the former hospital site unused. In 2012, a real estate expert said the best use for the site would be a 600-unit apartment complex. JFK Health System later put up a web site called Moving Muhlenberg Forward, with images of the complex and a new SED. But it went dark after city officials rebuffed a pitch from Rev. Gerald Lamont Thomas to accept the apartment plan and launched their own study of the site.

The city-funded study included three community meetings and, now complete, will be the topic of another public meeting at 7 p.m. on Aug. 13 in the Plainfield High School cafeteria.

--Bernice