Seton Hall, Hackensack Meridian keep fingers crossed until medical school approved

Seton Hall University and Hackensack Meridian Health are keeping their plans close to the vest about whether the partnership's medical school will open this summer.

The flagship project for the former Hoffmann-La Roche campus in Nutley and Clifton would be New Jersey's first private medical school in 50 years.

The Seton Hall-Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine is waiting for the T's to be crossed regarding medical school accreditation.

"At this point we ask that you contact us after Feb. 15, as we anticipate that by that time we will have more information regarding our preliminary accreditation,” officials said, regarding questions on whether the school was on track to open for the autumn 2018 semester.

According to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, a nonprofit that processes U.S. accreditation requests, the school was listed as having "candidate status" as of Dec. 15.

"Their next step is to attain preliminary accreditation, upon which it is up to them to decide when it is appropriate to begin to recruit applicants and accept applications for enrollment," LCME spokesman John Buarotti said.

Seton Hall-Hackensack Meridian's plan is to grow the school slowly. If accredited, the school would enroll 50 students for its classes this autumn and gradually increase the number until the student body reaches 500, officials said.

Seton Hall also intends to relocate its nursing program and its School of Health and Medical Sciences to the ex-Roche campus, off Route 3 in Nutley and Clifton.

Phase 1

The medical school's establishment is the first of several redevelopment phases planned at the 116-acre site, which is projected to create hundreds of jobs for the region.

Local officials are banking that the school and accompanying research facilities will drive redevelopment of the site as a science and research hub.

Roche, which began ceasing operation in 2012, provided 8,000 to 10,000 jobs in its heyday.

Not only has the region lost those jobs, but Clifton and Nutley lost almost $15 million in tax ratables — $5 million for Clifton, more than $9 million for Nutley.

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Things began to turn around when Prism Capital Partners of Bloomfield bought the site in 2016. Since then, it has been working to reinvent the campus with the moniker ON3, and create a synergy among like-minded businesses geared toward life sciences.

Local impact

As far as Clifton is concerned, the loss of Roche promises to be an economic boon. When fully operating, Nutley had most of the good ratables, such as Roche buildings, and Clifton got the Roche parking lots.

Redevelopment promises both jobs and ratables.

Clifton City Manager Nick Villano said Prism has been talking with three or four of the larger hotel chains about putting a hotel and conference center on the strip fronting Route 3.

"This turns parking lots into buildings," Villano said. "To me, it's a win. In five to 10 years, I look at this to be a positive for the city."

Last year, Clifton received its first payment in lieu of taxes, in the amount of $800,000. Under the agreement, the payments go up 5 percent each year, Villano said.

The city also received word Nov. 15 that Quest Diagnostics was considering moving its headquarters to the Clifton tract, in return for millions of dollars in tax incentives.

Quest would occupy roughly 250,000 square feet of space, relocate some 754 jobs from its Teterboro location, and provide New Jersey with an additional 384 jobs. According to Quest officials, the median wage would be $54,000.

Nutley, too, will benefit. Modern Meadow decided in August to relocate its headquarters from Brooklyn to the Nutley portion of the property.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority, through its New Jersey Assistance Program, offered the bio-fabrication firm $32 million in Grow NJ tax credits to bring a laboratory and pilot manufacturing site to ON3.

Ralph Lauren Corp. has been offered a similar deal to move its operations to Nutley.

Physician needs

According to the Robert Graham Center, a nonprofit research firm, New Jersey will need an additional 1,116 primary care physicians by 2030 to maintain current rates of health care service.

"Pressures from a growing, aging, increasingly insured population call on New Jersey to address current and growing demand for PCPs to adequately meet health care needs," the Graham study states.

The Medical Society of New Jersey will welcome the Seton Hall-Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, said its president, Dr. Christopher Gribben.

New Jersey has four schools offering medical degrees, totaling about 1,800 students at this time, Gribbin told The Record and NorthJersey.com.

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick

Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford

"The problem isn't at the school level. The problem is at the residency level," Gribbin asserted. The market needs more residencies, ones that pertain to the students' fields of interest, he said.

"A bigger problem is attracting graduates to remain in the state," the society president said, noting New Jersey's high cost of living and taxes.

According to Medical Society CEO Larry Downs, at this time, New Jersey's physician shortages are primarily in medical fields on the lower end of the pay scale, such as general practitioners.

Email: fagan@northjersey.com; proctor@northjersey.com