Monmouth Medical Center, one of the Jersey Shore’s oldest and busiest hospitals, is preparing to relocate its labor and delivery, maternity, and inpatient services from its Long Branch campus to a sprawling new $650 million medical campus in Tinton Falls, under a plan submitted by its parent company, RWJBarnabas Health.
The proposal, which involves transferring the hospital’s operating license from Long Branch to the new Vogel Medical Campus at Fort Monmouth, would effectively create a new regional hospital hub inland — while converting the current oceanfront site into a smaller facility focused on emergency, outpatient, and specialty care.
If approved, the shift would mark one of the most significant realignments of healthcare services in Monmouth County in decades — and end more than a century of childbirths taking place at the hospital’s Long Branch location.
The Tinton Falls facility, to be built on the 36-acre site of the former Myer Center at Fort Monmouth, represents the centerpiece of RWJBarnabas’s expansion plans. The first phase of construction, expected to begin next year, will include a 138,000-square-foot Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care Pavilion, with oncology, imaging, radiation, and ambulatory surgery.
But the second phase — now under state review — would transform the site into a full-service hospital, featuring labor and delivery suites, neonatal intensive care, inpatient surgical units, and expanded women’s health services.
According to the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), the project could create over 1,000 jobs and ultimately exceed $650 million in total investment.
RWJBarnabas officials have described the move as a long-term effort to modernize facilities and expand access across central New Jersey. The Long Branch campus, they say, is geographically limited and lacks space for major renovation or expansion.
Under RWJBarnabas’s plan, the Long Branch site will remain open but repurposed — continuing to offer an emergency department, select inpatient observation beds, and various outpatient and specialty services.
Still, the loss of full maternity and inpatient hospital care would fundamentally change the city’s medical footprint. Monmouth Medical Center has long been one of the busiest maternity hospitals in the state, delivering thousands of babies each year and serving as a key employment center for the Long Branch community.
Local officials have warned that the shift could make Long Branch a “shadow” of its former self, while others note that many families in the region already travel inland for specialty care and could benefit from a larger, more modern facility.
The proposed relocation — and the state’s decision this week to deem RWJBarnabas’s application “complete,” starting a 120-day review period — has set off an unusually sharp political clash between two of New Jersey’s most prominent Democrats.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) blasted Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration, accusing it of enabling “corporate greed” by allowing the relocation process to move forward. Pallone argued that transferring the hospital license would “gut” Long Branch’s hospital and abandon working-class residents.
Murphy’s office rejected that characterization, saying no decision has been made and that the plan would preserve critical services in Long Branch while ensuring continuity of care.
“Congressman Pallone is entitled to his own views, but not his own facts,” said Maggie Garbarino, a spokesperson for the governor. “RWJBarnabas Health has submitted a complete application to relocate a hospital license to a new facility in Tinton Falls, while ensuring continuity of emergency and outpatient services in Long Branch.”
The New Jersey Department of Health will now review RWJBarnabas’s license relocation request, a process expected to take about four months and include public hearings and community input.
If approved, construction of the full-service hospital phase at Fort Monmouth could begin soon after, with the first new facilities opening as early as 2027.