Planner: Helipad Would Provide Duplicative Service

Planner Peter Steck said that in addition to being a duplication of services offered at Morristown Memorial, a helipad at Overlook Hospital would also result in more negative impacts on the surrounding neighborhood than positive benefits to the patients which would utilize from the service.

One of the fundamental questions Tuesday night during the continuation of 13 months of hearings on Overlook's application to the Zoning Board for variances connected to building a helipad on the roof of the hospital, was whether or not the services Overlook's Neuroscience Institute provides in terms of stroke care are any better than other comprehensive stroke centers in New Jersey.

Steck argued that he could find no literature to indicate that Overlook is any better at stroke care than sister hospital Morristown Memorial which does have a helipad on its roof.

But materials provided by Overlook Hospital highlight some of the reasons a patient might be sent to Overlook over one of the other 12 comprehensive stoke centers in the state, also pointing out that stroke patients have been transferred from a comprehensive stroke center to Overlook.

Overlook recently received the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association's Gold Plus Award for their success in improving quality of care for heart disease and stroke patients. Overlook was also voted the No. 1 hospital for stroke and for neurological disorders by New Jersey doctors as listed in the 2010 Castle Connolly "Top Docs" hospital rankings.

In terms of technology and equipment, Overlook reports it has the only 320 slice CT scanner in New Jersey, a device which can create a 3D color image of a stroke victim's blood flow in the brain in three minutes. Overlook neurosurgeons are also reportedly specially trained in the latest, cutting edge interventions for stoke patients including the Merci Retrieval System, a coil that pulls the clot out of the vessels of the brain, and the Penumbra System, a suction device that retrieves the clot out of the vessels of the brain.

But Steck testified that he felt the board could not approve this application because in his opinion the negative impacts on the neighborhood–noise, vibrations and safety concerns–far outweigh the benefit to a limited number of stroke patients.

"There is a balance sought in the master plan and so far I think the neighborhood has been at the losing end of all of the balancing that has gone on," he said, referring to previous expansion on the Overlook campus.

Part of Steck's opinion was based on an exhibit he prepared which superimposed a quarter mile radius circle around the sites of existing helipads at Morristown Memorial Hospital and St. Barnabas Medical Center and around the proposed helipad site at Overlook Hospital. Steck concluded from these diagrams that the density surrounding Overlook is different from that surrounding the other two hospitals in that there are more single family detached dwellings. 

He also reported that the closest residential dwelling to the proposed helipad site, once you leave the Overlook campus, is 325 feet. There was some debate about whether or not to include two properties owned by Overlook Hospital closer than 325 feet which are used as dwellings for pastoral care ministers on call 24/7 for the hospital.

But Steck also stated his opinion on several of the conditions of approval proposed by the applicant, including conditions stating the hospital would never apply for designation as a trauma center, that the helipad would also be used for patient transfer for the stroke center, and that the flight path will be followed.

"Depending on weather, winds, any number of things, in my judgement once a pilot is flying, paramount on his mind is not going to be the conditions on your resolution," Steck said. "It's going to be how to make this thing the safest thing possible."

In addition, Steck says there is no way the hospital can promise it won't apply for become a trauma center. As evidenced by nearby Morristown Memorial Hospital, ownership changes and therefore business plans change.

But at the end of the day, Steck said the board must decide if the negative aspects to allowing a helipad are outweighed by the benefits. In this case, Steck says they do not.

"I don't believe the applicant has accurately described the detrimental effects which would result in an approval of the applicant," he said.

The zoning board will continue hearing the helipad case on May 3 when it is expected Kates and Delaney will call their final witnesses. There will also be hearings on May 17 and MacLean said he hopes the board might make a decision on June 21.