Shovels hit the dirt this month on the Bergen New Bridge Medical Center campus in Paramus for a new facility meant to serve grandparents, parents, and kids. The project will house a childcare program, community physician offices, and the future Bergen County Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly center, with an opening targeted for 2027.
County officials, WelbeHealth, and Bergen New Bridge Medical Center held the groundbreaking ceremony in October, as reported by ROI-NJ. Deborah Visconi, president and CEO of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, framed the project around a familiar squeeze facing local households. Families, she said, are often raising children and caring for aging parents while managing their own health, and the combination of childcare, community physician offices and a PACE program is designed to help ease that caregiving burden.
Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco echoed that framing, saying the project will serve Bergen County families across generations. The new facility is intended to respond to the overlapping needs of families raising children, caring for aging parents, and managing their own health, connecting families with care and support at different life stages, according to the same ROI-NJ report. Officials said the PACE center specifically will help seniors receive care and support to remain healthy and independent, while the childcare component will serve people who care for Bergen County residents.
A Statewide PACE Initiative
The Paramus project did not emerge in isolation. It stems from a January New Jersey Department of Human Services initiative expanding PACE services to all 21 state counties, with WelbeHealth designated as the regional operator for Bergen County, according to a notice posted on the New Jersey Department of Human Services website. PACE programs, covered by Medicare and Medicaid, provide all-inclusive medical, adult day health, and social services to adults aged 55 and older who meet nursing home care eligibility but prefer to keep living at home, per the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Why the 2027 Timeline
That same state notice explains why the facility won't open the moment construction wraps. The notice gives an average lead time of 18 to 24 months for permitting, licensing, construction and final inspections. The process includes final inspections by state and federal officials. A 2027 opening after the October 2026 groundbreaking would be less than 18 months later, shorter than that stated average.
The project is aimed at the overlapping care needs of Bergen County residents across generations. Its childcare and PACE components are intended to support families caring for children and older adults.
A Century-Old Campus
The new facility rises on a campus with deep roots. Bergen New Bridge Medical Center is a 1,070-bed safety-net facility that stands as New Jersey's largest hospital, its largest licensed nursing home, and the fourth-largest publicly owned hospital in the United States, per the hospital's own account. Established in 1916 as an isolation facility for contagious diseases and long known as Bergen Pines, the hospital transitioned in 2017 to non-profit management under Care Plus Bergen, an alliance of Care Plus NJ, Integrity House, and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, according to a historical summary on Wikipedia.
The hospital's broad mission touches residents in ways beyond elder and child care. Hoodline previously reported that a Fairview man accused of chasing a woman with a knife and threatening both her and a child was taken to Bergen New Bridge Medical Center before being lodged in Bergen County Jail, underscoring the facility's role as a regional safety net serving patients regardless of circumstance. The new multigenerational center represents a different kind of service on the same sprawling campus, one aimed at keeping families together and cared for across every stage of life.
