New Jersey has some famous cities, but even our lesser known smaller cities have pretty fascinating stories of their founding. They almost all involve the founding of a hospital. That may seem strange in a time where we have so few options to choose from, but having a hospital used to be seen as essential. As the population of Woodbury grew, one local physician capitalized on this need.
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| TFPNJ Historic Postcard Archive |
Dr. J Harris Underwood established a medical practice in Woodbury in 1910. As is the case with most turn of the century hospitals in the state, it all started in a residence. It wasnt until 1915 that a dedicated Hospital building was built off of N. Broad Street.
In 1927 a three story building popped up behind the homes on the site, adding 27 new beds. Right after World War two a large wing along Red Bank Avenue was constructed.
The hospital's namesake, Dr. Underwood died in 1957. Funny enough, thats not why the name was changed. That came in 1966 when the Underwood facility merged operations with the Brewer Maternity & Surgical Hospital that operated out of a converted house at Broad & Hunter.
The wing at the rear of the property was built in the mid 1960s, followed immediately after by the "Medical Arts" building.
In 1970 all of the pre-1950's buildings were demolished. This was done to accomidate a new 6 story wing which had a new emergency room entrance.
In the early 1980s another new wing was added along Oak Street. Inside the new wing was a new mortuary and laboratories to accomidate the growth of the hospital.
A new office building and parking garage was built across Red Bank Avenue in 1995. A skybridge was built to connect the new buildings to the old hospital.
Another new emergency room was constructed in 2004 at the corner of Broad and Oak. This was the last major expansion the old hospital building would see.
In 2012 the the Underwood Memorial network merged with South Jersey Health. The new group was known as Inspira. Underwood Hospital became Inspira-Woodbury.
Three years later Inspira built a brand new hospital 16 miles away in Mullica Hill, and announced they were planning to reduce operations at Woodbury.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020 the state of NJ began touring hospitals with the intention of reopening them.
Inpira developed a plan to revive the Woodbury location and sent it to the state. The hospital space ended up not being needed despite still being in fantastic condition.
Two years later Inspira began building a new replacement emergency room and behavioral health center across Oak Street. They announced their intent to demolish the old Underwood Hospital around this time.
The new emergency room building opened on May 31st 2024, and the historic Underwood Hospital was officially shuttered.
I had been scoping out the building for years already, trying to determine what the best approach would be.
As soon as I was confident security had moved across the street I decided I would make an initial run through to see how feasible my plan was.
I pulled up in the middle of the night, found a place to park and made my move. I got inside quickly and got right to business looking for the morgue.
The space consisted of two rooms, one with a pair of kitted out autopsy tables and a second with a large walk in cooler to store the deceased patients.
I was on edge during the whole visit. With security right across the street and power still on, I couldn't be completely sure the cameras inside weren't going to be a problem.
The doors inside were motion activated, and super loud. The hospital was so clean the floors were still shiny.
After poking around a bit on the first floor I I headed for the exit, hoping I wouldn't be confronted on the way back to my car.
Once I had established the hospital was fairly excellent, I plotted my return. Woodbury was so far away from home it wasnt like I could just run back the next day.
Eventually a Saturday came where I had nothing planned for the following morning, so I worked my way down to Woodbury.
There was a fence around the hospital now, which presented a new challenge.
Thankfully there was a perfectly placed bus stop surrounded by foliage right alongside the hospital.
I hopped the fence and eventually found another way inside. This time I headed right for the top floor in search of a surgical suite.
Inspira has several other hospitals in the region so it was a toss up whether or not the suite would still be equipped.
I started losing hope pretty quickly as I worked my way through hallway after hallway of vacant patient rooms. When I did eventually find the correct wing, it was as empty as I feared.
Most of the other heavy equipment, including the X-Ray tables and MRI machine were also removed.
For whatever reason nothing was removed from the kitchen.
I worked my way through the rest of the place fairly quickly.
One fascinating thing that was left behind was an automated medication sorter, something I hadn't seen before. The system retails for over a million dollars.
One of my other favorite things about the hospital was all the graffiti the staff left behind. Stuff like this added a sense of personality and nostalgia to an otherwise dead space.
By late 2025 the hospital was devastated inside. Demolition crews had chewed their way through every wall and ceiling in searcg of scrap metal and hazardous materials. A local news blog published drone shots of huge piles of waste that had been pushed out of holes in the walls.
Demolition of a detached medical building began around the same time. It wasn't until January of 2026 that demolition began on the main hospital center.
Who knows whats next for the hospital grounds. No matter what it is I can't imagine it has anywhere near the impact Underwood Hospital did for the years it served the city.
Thanks for learning with me.
