Friday, Aug. 4 is a gala night, when the Hackensack Meridian Southern Ocean Medical Center Foundation will host its annual Signature Social at Bonnet Island Estate in Manahawkin. Proceeds from the event will support SOMC’s surgical expansion project and the transformation of the hospital’s entire surgical suite.

The surgical expansion, slated to cost $25 million and span 30 months, includes the expansion of six state-of-the-art operating rooms, which will allow physicians to accommodate local…