The Wrap: Happy Anniversary, Hospital Merger, Beach Fills Are Expensive

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December 12 to 18:
Happy Anniversary! 
Dec. 18 was the 235th anniversary of New Jersey statehood. On that day in 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the new constitution. Oh, how she has grown. 
The 2020 census shows New Jersey with over nine-million people and close to four-million housing units. It is a diverse state, with its citizens who designate themselves as white non-Hispanic comprising only 55% of the population. In the 2020 census the state grew by 5.7% from 2010. It remains the most densely populated state in the union with the 11th largest population and the 46th smallest land area. 
Cape May County has always had a small population, second smallest to Salem. Unlike the state, the county is not very diverse with over 85% of its residents self-designating as white non-Hispanic. We are the county with the oldest median age, the highest vacancy rate of housing units by far and the population is declining not growing, down 2.1% from the 2010 census. 
Cape May County lost 2,002 bodies in the census count since 2010, with all that loss and more coming in the under-18-years-old category. We grew slightly in the over 18 crowd. 
New Jersey does have some firsts. The state was the first to ratify the Bill of Rights and the first to ratify the Prohibition amendment. To prove our contrarian nature, New Jersey also became a center for the smuggling of illegal liquor during the speakeasy days.
Hospital Merger
This week we learned that Cape Regional Health System has agreed to a merger with Cooper Health System of Camden. The move is the latest in a trend of small independent health systems seeking the resources of larger entities during difficult times. It is a nation-wide phenomenon which was accelerated by the pressures of the pandemic. Just this week Inspira Health System completed its acquisition of the struggling Salem Medical Center with the help of $25 million in state grants. 
A pre-pandemic report on hospital market concentration found that the vast majority of hospital markets were highly concentrated with a single hospital system having the majority of the discharges. The pandemic made consolidations more likely, but it only accelerated the trend. One study showed 1,600 hospital mergers in the U. S. from 1998 to 2017. 
The announcement of the intent to merge starts a long process to produce a definitive agreement and gain regulatory approval. The earliest the merger would probably take place is the first quarter of 2024. 
Beach Fills are Expensive
At a recent Avalon Council Meeting we learned that the 2023 beach replenishment for the two municipalities on the Seven Mile Island alone will cost $41.5 million. The Army Corps of Engineers has 10 designated project areas along the New Jersey Coast. While all of them will not cost as much as the Seven Mile Island job, the task of keeping engineered beaches fed with sand is expensive.
In Stone Harbor, the borough undertook a study by the engineering firm Mott MacDonald to look at options for beach management that might hold the sand on the beaches longer between large scale replenishments. Recommendations include scraping sand in the low water area to return it to the dry beach, repairing the 127^th Street terminal jetty to prevent sand from drifting south at the same rate that it does now, capturing windblown sand with dune fences for reuse on the dry beaches and even the purchase of a used dredge for multiple community use in mining sand from areas like the Hereford Inlet. 
Beach management is also an expensive proposition. Sand Scraping and redistribution in many communities involves transport of the sand from one location to another. This process known as back passing becomes a regular expense where erosion hot spots require almost annual attention. At least one community, North Wildwood, says it has become unaffordable. 
Luckily, those communities with long-term contracts with the Army Corps have the largest share of the large-scale beach replenishment costs covered by the federal government. But even here, the state and municipal share continues to grow. Past attempts to get the state to add to its Shore Protection Fund have not been successful. New legislation has been introduced for another try.
Happenings
Two Ocean City employees have been charged with theft of coins from parking meter collections. The two were indicted this week.
The annual eight-day Jewish festival know has Hanukkah began on December 17 and will run until the 26^Th. It commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem and the rededication of the second temple in the second century BC.
The county Open Space fund will commit $4 million over two years to enhance the Byrne Centercomplex in Wildwood.
Respiratory illnesses continue to peak earlier than in previous years. Those most at risk are young children and seniors. 
A group of nine members of a local Ukrainian Church sung carols in Ukrainian as part of a fund-raising effort to aid those in war devastated Lutsk. 
A mammoth humpback whale washed ashore in Strathmere. The dead whale was buried in the sand by the Upper Township Public Works.
The streets of Wildwood were again the location for the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe feast day. The festival is widely celebrated in Mexico and the parade through the streets of Wildwood reflects the city’s diverse population.
Staffing remains a problem for the increasingly popular summer season. Larger crowds are greeted by fewer employees as the number of foreign workers is unable to meet the need for seasonal workers.
Sea Isle City awarded a contract for the demolition of its old school facility to make way for a planned community center.
Confusion over where one can legally smoke weed abounds. Various agencies at state and local levels themselves appear bewildered as the legal consumption of cannabis grows.
Two men and a dog were rescued over 200 miles offshore where they had been stranded on a disabled sailboat for 10 days.
Spout of the Week
DENNIS TOWNSHIP – The former Leamings Run property should be preserved. The Green Acres program or the county open space program should buy and preserve it. The County should offer the owner the asking price to save it. That property is too pretty and valuable to wildlife to allow it to be destroyed by more new houses. 
Read more or submit your own at spoutoff.cmcherald.com