New Hospital Will Strengthen Clinic Care

Each year, the Outpatient Clinic at University Medical Center at Princeton provides healthcare services for more than 5,000 uninsured and underinsured adults and children who otherwise might have nowhere else to turn for care. In 2006, the number of clinic visits (each patient on average visits the clinic four times per year) amounted to 17,000. The clinic is a vital service at our Princeton campus, and it will remain an important part of the new hospital campus in Plainsboro.

When trustees voted in early 2005 to build the new hospital, one issue being debated in the Princeton Borough and Township communities was whether a standalone clinic should remain on Witherspoon Street to serve patients who currently walk to the clinic and have no other means of transportation to the facility. In June 2006, the mayor of Princeton Borough convened a task force composed of UMCP representatives, Princeton Borough and Township elected officials, members of the Princeton Regional Health Commission, neighborhood residents and community members involved in Princeton's social services organizations. In Fall of that year, the task force released a report that found the number of clinic users who walked and had no other way to get to the clinic was far too low to support a freestanding clinic.

The task force determined that the best way to serve patients would be to provide reliable and convenient transportation from Witherspoon Street to the new hospital. UMCP is committed to ensuring that such a transportation service is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The hospital also committed to establishing a Neighborhood Healthcare Information Center where residents would obtain information about transportation options to the hospital, general health and well-being, as well as healthcare and health education outreach services provided by UMCP in the community. 

A standalone health services facility in the Witherspoon neighborhood could only treat minor medical conditions, and many patients would need to be transferred to the main facility to meet their healthcare needs. Moving the clinic with the hospital will allow direct access to the state-of-the-art services of UMCP. Patients will be able to continue to receive timely care for urgent issues such as appendicitis and heart disease, as well as chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes and orthopedic problems.

UMCP has always provided a single, high standard of care for all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. The Outpatient Clinic in the new hospital will continue to set new standards of care for medically underserved members of our community.