Overlook Hospital was founded in 1906 by Dr. William Henry Lawrence, Jr., who, at the age of 26, bought the Faitoute property on the "highest point in Summit" overlooking the Baltusrol Valley and which was only ten minutes walk away from the train station.[1] He borrowed $15,000 from three civic leaders to build the three-story structure which housed an operating room, x-ray facility, and hydraulically powered elevator.[1] The hospital began with 42 beds, and cost approximately $30,000 in total.[1] The hospital was privately owned.[1]
In the 1960s, doctors experimented with new techniques; in one instance, doctors authorized use of alcoholic beverages to delay the onset of contractions of a pregnant woman.[3] The Valerie Fund Children's Center was established in 1977.[4] When it opened, it was the first of its kind in New Jersey.[4] By 1987, it had three doctors, three resident nurses, a social worker and support staff.[4] It treats "youngsters with various forms of cancer and rare blood disorders."[4] Overlook began a brain tumor center in 1999.[5]
Walsh Maternity Center-provides maternity and critical care services to high-risk newborns.[6] It offers Calm Birth, an alternative approach to labor that focuses on neuromuscular release and meditation.[7]
Overlook Hospital is non-profit.[13] In 2007, the foundation began a campaign to raise $100 million, according to a director of the Overlook Hospital Foundation.[13] Donations help Overlook "expand from being a local institution to a regional medical center."[13] There is an Overlook Hospital Foundation Board with trustees who serve on three-year terms.[14]
Atlantic Health owns an insurance company in the Cayman Islands entitled AHS Insurance Limited whose purpose is to pay claims against its hospitals.[15] Overlook Hospital runs a cafeteria in conjunction with Baltimore-based Donna's Restaurants, Inc. The hospital pays Donna's for use of its brand name as well as methods of operation and recipes.[16] The neurosciences research center at Overlook cost $15 million.[5]
Controversies
In the early 1990s, Overlook Hospital was contrasted with the urban hospital of St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center. St. Joseph's had a much greater percentage of charity patients; a reporter wrote: "the bills of patients who have health insurance or who can otherwise pay are marked up 33 percent, the surcharge going to pay for charity care;" in contrast, Overlook, which has a wealthier client base, only had a 6 percent charity markup.[17] As a result, Overlook operated with a surplus while St. Joseph's was cash-strapped.[17] Since Overlook could pay suppliers on time, it qualified for discounts based on the "quantity of its purchases" while the urban hospital had to pay extra charges.[17]
Legal controversies
On June 21, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that AHS Hospital Corp., Atlantic Health System Inc., and Overlook Hospital agreed to pay the United States $8,999,999 to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by allegedly overbilling Medicare. The settlement is part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative.[18]
The settlement regards allegations that Overlook Hospital, owned and operated by AHS Hospital Corporation, and Atlantic Health Systems Inc., overbilled Medicare for patients who were treated on an inpatient basis when they should have been treated as either observation patients or on an outpatient basis.[18]
The settlement partially resolves a False Claims Act suit filed by former employees of Overlook Hospital in U.S. ex rel. Doe et al. v. AHS Hospital Corp., et al., Civ. No. 08-2042 (D.N.J.).[18]
Rail trail at Overlook
Area residents have proposed a 7.3-mile pedestrian linear park along the main line of the abandoned Rahway Valley Railroad.[19][20] The rail trail would run eastbound from the medical center on the edge of downtown Summit and head south along the old railbed through Springfield, Union, Kenilworth and ending at the southwest edge of Roselle Park at the Cranford border. A northern portion of the rail trail on the RVRR main line is under construction as the Summit Park Line, with a footbridge over Morris Avenue installed in October 2022.[21][22] In parallel, advocates have been pushing for immediate development of the portion south of Route 22, running past the Galloping Hill Golf Course through Kenilworth and Roselle Park. The New Jersey Department of Transportion, which owns the railbed, has been working to clear it in anticipation of possible future trail use.[23][24][25][26]
