Ocean Medical Center

Ocean Medical Center began as Point Pleasant Hospital in 1918 as a four-room facility in the Point Pleasant Beach home of Dr. Frank Denniston, and by the late 1920s had expanded to 16-bed building. It continued to expand and become the largest hospiltal in the region.[6][7]

In 1982, Point Pleasant Hospital changed its name to Northern Ocean Hospital System. The establishment of Brick Hospital began as grassroots movement in the 1960s.[8] Construction began in 1982 and opened in 1984 with 120 beds. In 1987, the Northern Ocean Hospital System changed its name to Medical Center of Ocean County, comprising Point Pleasant Hospital and Brick Hospital.[9]

When Point Pleasant Hospital closed it became a standalone emergency department. The Brick Township and Point Pleasant facilities merged with the Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune and Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank on January 1, 1997 into Meridian Health.[10]

The new pavilion at Ocean Medical Center.

In 2013, it began an $82 million expansion project to substantially increase the capacity of its emergency room facilities and add additional basement and third floor space, funded in part by the family of Jirair Hovnanian who donated $5 million,[11][12] and completed in March, 2014. The new $82 million emergency room contained 49 new emergency beds and a dedicated pediatric emergency area.[13][14][15] In 2016, it opened its cancer center[16] and in 2017, new surgical suites,[17] as well as a "zen room" near the nurses' station where employees could break away from the work environment.[18]

In 2019, the institution started new construction on a new heart and vascular center and will combine heart and vascular services on one floor.[19] In 2019, Ocean Medical Center greatly expanded its pharmacy to include all needed medical products and to be a "one stop shop" for patients and the public.[20]

The hospital provides many services to patients including Bariatric Surgery, Cancer Care, Critical Care, a CyberKnife Center, The da Vinci Surgical System, a Dialysis Center, Emergency Department, Incontinence Center, Laboratory Services, Laparoscopic Gastric Banding (LAP-Band), Maternity, Orthopedics, Palliative Care, Pediatrics, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Services, Same Day Surgery, Sleep Medicine, Surgical Services, Thoracic Surgery, Urologic Surgery, and Vascular Surgery.[21][22]

In 2020, the hospital was rated High Performing by U.S. News & World Report for treatment of colon cancer, copd, and heart failure.

Also in 2020, Ocean Medical Center tied with Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center, Jeffereson Health-Stratford, and Overlook Medical Center as #11 best in New Jersey according to U.S. News & World Report.[23] The hospital is also Recognized in Southern Jersey for its advanced medical care.[24]

The Human Rights Campaign ranked the hospital as one of the best in the state for treating LGBTQ patients.[25]

The Leapfrog Group gave the hospital an "A" rating as teaching hospital in 2019.[26][27] The Leapfrog group also named this hospital along with Jersey Shore University Medical Center as "top teaching hospitals nationally."[28]

Ocean Medical has received acknowledgement in the American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Recognition Program.[29]

• List of hospitals in New Jersey
• K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital
• Jersey Shore University Medical Center
• Hackensack Meridian Health