From a small 12-bed house to a nationally recognized 339-bed regional medical center with locations throughout Central New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) Somerset, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, today celebrated 125 years of providing comprehensive health care services to its community. The hospital was incorporated on Dec. 6, 1899.
After a 16-year-old Somerville boy died from a head injury, a local newspaper owner, David Messler, rallied the community to raise funds for a hospital to ensure that timely medical care was available close to home. A home on East Main Street was converted into a hospital with a staff of 10 doctors. It opened its doors in 1901.
“Over the past 125 years, our hospital has cared for generations of families from Somerville and throughout Central New Jersey,” said Deirdre Blaus, Interim Chief Administrative Officer, RWJUH Somerset. “While much has changed in health care since 1899, the mission of the hospital’s founders has not. It is still so vitally critical to have a hospital in your community that can provide the medical care you need throughout your lives – from emergency care to maternity services, cancer care and surgical treatments. With the generous support of our community, we are proud to ensure that Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset – still the only acute care hospital in Somerset County – has the world-class facilities, leading-edge technologies and skilled health care professionals to deliver the highest quality medical care.”
Highlights from the hospital’s 125-year history include:
- A “new” Somerset Hospital opened at its current location on Rehill Avenue in Somerville in 1925, accommodating 100 patients.
- The Somerset Hospital School of Nursing operated from 1911-1970.
- The hospital expanded to 190 beds in 1946. A new east wing opened in 1963, increasing capacity to 300. Fifty more beds were added in 1972.
- A three-year Family Practice Residency Program was established in 1975.
- A five-year modernization and expansion project was completed in 1990. This project included a new Same Day Surgery Center, Clinical Laboratory, Center for Diagnostic Imaging and addition to the Emergency Department.
- A three-year $46 million construction project was completed in 1997 with 58,000 square feet of new construction and 100,000 square feet of renovations, including the Same Day Center, maternity pavilion, patient care units, Rehabilitation Services and Eating Disorders Unit.
- In 2005, the hospital completed a four-year $100 million expansion and renovation project – the largest in its history. The centerpiece of this expansion was a new 40,000-square-foot Emergency Department.
- The Steeplechase Cancer Center opened in 2007. This $28 million facility centralized all outpatient cancer services in one location for the first time. It was named in honor of the hospital’s largest benefactor, the Far Hills Race Meeting Association.
- The hospital received nursing’s most prestigious honor - Magnet® recognition by the American Nurses Credentialing Center – in 2011.
- The hospital merged with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick on June 1, 2014.
- Robert Wood Johnson Health System and Barnabas Health merged on March 31, 2016, creating the most comprehensive health system in New Jersey – RWJBarnabas Health.
- The hospital opened the state’s first health care facility dedicated to providing specialized primary care services to the LGBTQ+ community in 2017.
- A 5-year Cardiology Services Expansion project was completed in 2023.
- Construction of a two-story 76,000-square-foot vertical expansion was completed this fall, featuring 45 all-private rooms for post-surgical and medical/surgical patients.
RWJUH Somerset will be celebrating its 125th anniversary with activities throughout the coming year.
The hospital has been nationally recognized for its quality care, including being honored by Healthgrades as one of America’s 250 Best Hospitals and receiving an “A” Patient Safety Grade from the Leapfrog Group.
For more information about RWJUH Somerset’s history, including historical photos, visit www.rwjbh.org/somerset125.