History
The facility first opened in 1916 as the Bergen County Isolation Hospital, housing patients with tuberculosis and other contagious diseases. It later became known as Bergen Pines, inspired by the planting of more than 1,000 young pine trees donated in 1924 by Hackensack's Pioneer Masonic Lodge. It continued to be an isolation hospital for 8 years. [5] Its first superintendent was Joseph Morrow, a native of Arkansas who spearheaded its organization and helped grow the hospital into one of the finest facilities of its kind in the country. [6]
In 1966, the hospital was reported to host pastoral visits from Lutheran, Methodist, and Baptist clergy sponsored by the Bergen County Council of Churches. [7]
In 1998, Bergen County transferred the hospital to the Bergen County Improvement Authority, which privatized it by leasing the facility to the Solomon Health Group, forming Bergen Regional Medical Center. [8] In 2005, the county and Solomon Health Group were sued by Citizen Action which alleged $33 million in loans from the county to the company were misued. [9]
In 2017, the hospital transitioned to being run as a nonprofit as Care Plus Bergen in conjunction with Rutgers NJMS. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Army Corps of Engineers built two facilities totaling 13,450-square-foot on the campus to expand capacity as Bergen County was one of the hardest hit in the United States. The facilities were later used as a vaccination center. [10]
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