Jersey Shore University Medical Center HOPE Tower

As the area’s only academic university-level teaching center, Meridian Health’s Jersey Shore University Medical Center desired a facility to serve as home to medical education programs and cancer patients as well as additional space for research “that would provide a new healing outpatient experience for the community.” HOPE Tower was planned to support the next generation of medical leaders and provide access to leading-edge clinical trials and therapies.

This was an exciting expansion for the hospital, allowing them to better serve the community. Cancer patients who had completed previous treatment regimens at Jersey Shore University Hospital were emotionally connected to the hospital, and many attended the topping out ceremony, celebrating with tears of joy.

Walter P Moore, with WHR Architects/EYP, had recently completed a nearby project — Ocean Medical Center, also owned by Meridian Health — and because of the project's success, the owner requested the same team for HOPE Tower. Walter P Moore saw an opportunity to save the owner both construction time and costs by utilizing the innovative SidePlate structural system in the new tower. We conducted a number of early structural studies to target the best and most efficient scheme for the project.

In addition to structural engineering, our parking and diagnostics teams were also engaged on the project. Diagnostics provided envelope consulting, studying the thermal performance of the enclosure and suggesting ways to increase the efficiency of the heating and cooling system. Our parking team applied their expertise with precast structures to complete the garage on an accelerated basis while keeping it within a strict budget.

HOPE Tower — the 10-story, 300,000-sf medical office building — totaled $265 million in construction costs and opened in mid-2018. Its cancer center offers comprehensive treatment options, imaging technologies, and academic programs.