Southern Ocean Medical Center is now offering acupuncture.

Actually, SOMC has been providing it since a soft opening in mid-July, as well as offering visits with a nurse health coach and a nutritionist as part of its extended Integrative Health and Medicine office.

Ed Walters said SOMC – formerly called Southern Ocean County Hospital, or SOCH, which many local residents still call it – has made enormous strides during his lifetime.

“The care has drastically and greatly improved over the years,” said Walters. “It’s been my hospital since I grew up on Long Beach Island.”

Walters is now a trustee for the Southern Ocean Medical Center Foundation. In mid-2026 he donated $250,000 for the construction of the new office, as well as $500,000 for surgical services expansion at the hospital. His donations straddled the gulf between two types of medical care.

“It’s the ‘east vs. west’ mentality,” said Walters. “To a lot of doctors and programs, it’s (acupuncture) mystical, it doesn’t really work, even though there is so much evidence and documented studies done by reputable medical organizations that prove that it does work.”

He said several of his friends and family members have benefited from acupuncture. And Dr. David Leopold, the network medical director for Hackensack Meridian Integrative Health and Medicine, agrees.

“We don’t view acupuncture as a replacement for conventional medicine, but as an additional therapeutic tool that can be incorporated into conventional care when the evidence, safety profile and clinical circumstances support its use,” Leopold said.

He said acupuncture has proven to be particularly helpful for treating chronic pain and digestive disorders, as well as for patients undergoing cancer care by alleviating stress, reducing pain and nausea, and helping with many other side effects from treatment.

“Over the past several decades, our understanding of acupuncture has evolved considerably,” Leopold said. “Taken together, this evidence moves acupuncture out of the realm of ‘alternative’ medicine and into simply ‘medicine.’”

Leopold also said serious complications from acupuncture are uncommon, and most adverse effects, such as soreness or bruising, are temporary.

“‘Integrative’ does not mean replacing conventional medicine with alternative therapies,” the doctor said. “It means expanding the tools available to clinicians and patients by thoughtfully incorporating evidence-informed approaches. That includes nutrition, physical activity, mind-body medicine, acupuncture, sleep, stress regulation and other non-pharmacologic interventions, alongside conventional medical care.”

“Bringing integrative health services to Southern Ocean means that our patients in the community no longer have to travel to access acupuncture and whole-person care,” said Kelly Briggs, DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice, the highest level of education for nurses), administrative director of Integrative Health and Medicine at Hackensack Meridian Health. “We really believe this should be the standard, not supplemental.”

Briggs effusively thanked Walters for his donation.

“We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Ed. This space simply wouldn’t exist without his generosity, and his belief in what integrative medicine can do for people who are navigating serious illnesses.”

Walters said he was happy to support his hometown hospital.

“I think it’s important for everyone in the community to embrace making your local hospital the best it can be. Everyone should be pitching in.”

To learn more about how to support SOMC, visit GiveHMH.org/SouthernOcean.  —R.M.