Polistina: Atlantic County’s Future Must Expand Beyond Casinos and Tourism

ATLANTIC COUNTY — State Sen. Vince Polistina says a series of major health care and education investments could help reshape Atlantic County's economy as the region looks to become less dependent on casinos and tourism.

During an appearance Wednesday on The AC Mike Lopez Show on WOND, Polistina pointed to AtlantiCare's expanding footprint, Stockton University and partnerships involving Temple University as key pieces of what he sees as Atlantic County's economic future.

“We need to do what we can to make sure we keep our market share here, but we really need to pivot and we need to look beyond just tourism and gaming,” Polistina said.

Polistina's comments came as he discussed the recent opening of AtlantiCare's new rehabilitation hospital and several other health care projects being planned or developed across Atlantic County.

“We have so much here in Atlantic County and, you know, we need to focus on all of the things we have,” Polistina said. “We have an industry that nobody else in the state right now has.”

“We got the beach, we got the boardwalk, we got all these amenities,” he added. “And if we focus on the future of Atlantic County, this place is like none other in the state of New Jersey. And we have just such opportunity here.”

New Rehabilitation Hospital

Polistina highlighted AtlantiCare's new rehabilitation hospital as one example of the region's growing health care sector.

“The rehabilitation hospital that they opened is going to be primarily for stroke patients, brain injury patients,” Polistina said. “But that building was absolutely, you know, fabulous.”

Polistina said the facility will ultimately include 60 beds with individual rooms for patients needing rehabilitative care.

“It's going to be 60 beds, ultimately, individual rooms for people who need aftercare,” he said.

Polistina said the expansion addresses an important part of a patient's recovery that extends beyond emergency and acute medical treatment.

“The fact that AtlantiCare is really stepping up their game, dealing with the acute care needs, whether somebody has a stroke or has a brain injury, is absolutely important,” Polistina said. “But then that aftercare is just equally as important to get people, you know, up and moving around again and get back being part of a productive part of life.”

Cancer Center Among Projects Polistina Discusses

Polistina also offered details about several other AtlantiCare projects he said are in the works.

He said he recently saw AtlantiCare President and CEO Michael Charlton make a presentation about the health system's future.

Among the projects Polistina discussed was a proposed cancer center involving the LifeCenter property near English Creek Avenue and Delilah Road.

“The Cancer Center, which I understand is probably getting presented to the board, you know, this week or sometime very soon, where they'll be taking a LifeCenter out at English Creek Road and Delilah Road, and they will be converting that into a state-of-the-art cancer center,” Polistina said.

Because Polistina described that project as awaiting a presentation to a board, the cancer center should be viewed as a developing proposal rather than a completed project.

He also pointed to plans involving the former Tilton Fitness property in Galloway Township.

“The things that they're doing with the old Tilton Fitness in Galloway to make administrative offices over there in Galloway Township, they are really one of the absolute, if not the absolute leader in this region as we move forward,” Polistina said.

24-Hour Monitoring Through New Command Center

Another project Polistina highlighted could bring advanced remote patient monitoring to Atlantic County.

“They're also building a state-of-the-art command center powered by Oracle,” Polistina said.

Polistina said the facility is planned near Jim Leeds Road and Chris Gaupp Drive and would allow patients with diabetes and other chronic conditions to be monitored around the clock.

“That facility is going to be monitoring people who have diabetes and other, you know, chronic conditions, full-time, 24-7,” Polistina said. “You will be monitored.”

He offered an example involving a diabetic patient's glucose levels.

“If your glucose level drops below a certain level, they'll know right away,” Polistina said. “They're going to watch and see if it gets restored within an hour. And if it doesn't get restored within an hour, then they're going to be sending you help or doing what is necessary to get you the care you need.”

Polistina described the developments as part of AtlantiCare's broader Vision 2030 effort.

“They are doing some absolutely unbelievable things,” he said. “Vision 2030 is underway, and really looking forward to seeing more and more of what they bring to the table, bring to this region in terms of the future of healthcare and education.”

‘We Really Need to Pivot’

For Polistina, those projects represent something larger than the expansion of a single health care system.

Atlantic City's casinos and the Shore tourism industry will remain critical economic engines, he said, but Atlantic County needs additional industries capable of producing jobs and investment.

“The tourism industry, the casinos are going to be incredibly important,” Polistina said. “We need to do what we can to make sure we keep our market share here.”

Then came what I think is the key quote of the entire interview:

“But we really need to pivot and we need to look beyond just tourism and gaming.”

Polistina sees health care and higher education as central to that diversification.

“When you think about the growth opportunities, AtlantiCare, Stockton University, partnerships with Temple University, that is really, I think, where this region is headed in terms of opportunity, in terms of growth, in terms of, you know, how you're going to diversify things around here,” Polistina said.

For a region whose economy has long risen and fallen with the fortunes of tourism and Atlantic City's casino industry, Polistina believes those investments could help build another economic pillar.

“We have just such opportunity here,” he said. “We got to take advantage of it.”