Overlook Hospital

Overlook Medical Center
Atlantic Health Care Systems
Overlook Hospital
Geography
Location	99 Beauvoir Avenue, Summit, New Jersey, United States
Organization
Hospital type	Teaching
Affiliated university	Rutgers University
Services
Standards	JCAHO
Beds	504
History
Founded	1906
Links
Website	http://www.atlantichealth.org Atlantic Health
Lists	Hospitals in New Jersey

Overlook Hospital is a 504-bed non-profit teaching hospital located in Summit, New Jersey, United States, 20 miles west of New York City. On a hill in the center of the city, the hospital is one of Summit's three largest employers and offers medical services to Summit and surrounding communities in northern New Jersey.

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. 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. The hospital began with 42 beds, and cost approximately $30,000 in total. According to one account, the hospital was privately owned but had a policy of caring for "all proper and deserving cases whether able to pay or not, and to take emergency cases at all times."

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. The Valerie Fund Children's Center was established in 1977 through the efforts of Edwin and Susan Goldstein of Warren after their 9-year-old daughter, Valerie, died of bone cancer. When it opened, it was the first of its kind in New Jersey. By 1987, it had three doctors, three resident nurses, a social worker and support staff. It treats "youngsters with various forms of cancer and rare blood disorders."

In 1989, tennis star Tracy Austin was brought to the emergency room following a car accident, and was treated and released. In 1991, Overlook was estimated to have 30,000 emergency room visits annually, with 600 staff physicians and admits of 20,000 patients annually, and 170,000 to 200,000 outpatient visits annually, according to one source. Overlook began a brain tumor center in 1999. It had 538 beds in 2003. The hospital sometimes treats victims of freak accidents; for example, in 2005 at the PGA Golf Championship Golf at the Baltusrol Golf Club, a tree branch toppled and seriously hurt one man who was taken to Overlook.