Carteret, NJ – Mayor Dan Reiman and the Carteret Borough Council have announced that Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway will be the operator of the Borough’s fitness and wellness center.
Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ), one of three groups that responded to the town’s request for qualifications, was the successful applicant in a competitive review and selection process, according to Reiman, who stated that their proposal best fit the vision and objectives of his administration and the needs of the community.
Mayor Reiman said, “We have envisioned a state-of-the-art facility that goes beyond standard fitness. We’re after a comprehensive range of resources that will encompass professional rehabilitative services and a progressive approach to ‘wellness.’ Robert Wood Johnson Rahway clearly fits that mold.”
Construction on the $14 million “fitness and wellness center” project first broke ground in the fall of 2009, and is expected to be completed by mid-2011. Plans for the 42,000 square foot facility have evolved since its original conception, and now include provisions for a comprehensive aquatics center that is over 7,000 sq. ft. The aquatics center that will host a junior Olympic sized swimming pool, therapeutic pool and whirlpool. According to borough officials, the aquatics center, along with the facility’s many other amenities will be tailored to meet a wide variety of health, fitness, and recreational needs, and will allow for programs and services that benefit every age group of our community.
The center will also house a large state of the art exercise area, with a variety of cardiovascular equipment, selectorized equipment and free weights, fitness studios, physical therapy facilities, free childcare, full amenity locker rooms, and a healthy café.
According to the redevelopment and operators agreement, “Fitness & Wellness of Carteret, LLC,” will partner with the hospital to run their second fitness and wellness facility for RWJ University Hospital Rahway. The first facility is located in Scotch Plains, and has been a tremendous success, servicing the residents of the Scotch Plains community and surrounding areas. This entity will enter into a 20-year lease with the Borough with four 5-year options. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway will operate physical therapy services from the Center. Provisions have been made for an additional 500-600 sq. ft. to be privately subleased as a café.
“This is one of many unique partnerships that have been established over the course of this administration,” Mayor Reiman added. “We expect the ‘Robert Wood Johnson Rahway Fitness and Wellness Center at Carteret’ to be the hub of some tangible growth in the Borough, and the source of better living for residents throughout the region.”
The Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway is an acute care hospital serving Union and Middlesex counties, providing 24 hour emergency services, cardiac care, hematology-oncology services, critical care, orthopedic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery. The hospital is renowned for its rehabilitation services, which include physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, speech and swallowing therapies. The hospital is home to Care Connection, a sub-acute unit that uses extensive rehabilitation services to ease the transition from acute care hospitalization to home.
The hospital provides full diagnostic and laboratory services. It also offers extensive outpatient services, including wound care, balance testing and treatment, imaging, sleep care and pain management. The hospital’s cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation programs are consistently praised by participants for their ability to motivate, build strength, stamina and improve quality of life.
“RWJ Rahway has a long-standing commitment to health through quality care for our hospital patients and by promoting a healthier lifestyle that includes encouraging people to exercise, eat healthier, and take charge of their health through education at our fitness center,” said Hospital President and CEO Kirk Tice. “We honor that commitment in Carteret by providing healthy lifestyle programming in a state of the art facility built by the Borough’s administration.”
