The 96 private inpatient rooms are great. So are the 85 examination rooms, 84 infusion chairs and four linear accelerators — not to mention the nine operating rooms and 10 science laboratories for 10 principal investigators, each with a team of about 10 researchers.
That’s what you get when you spend nearly $1 billion on a 12-story, 520,000-square-foot facility.
But, if you want to know what’s really cool about the Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, the first freestanding cancer hospital in New Jersey, you have to look closer.
At the bathroom in the private room that easily converts to a shower to give long-term patients greater comfort and dignity.
At the pullout couches that let everyone know no one has to go home.
At the decorative hanging lights, visually appealing artwork and live plants found throughout.
At the food, both the snacks that seemingly are available everywhere, free of charge, and the a la carte options that are available on request all day and night.
And, most importantly, at the technological musts of modern-day life: Wi-Fi, plenty of chargers and large-screen smart TVs where you can access your Netflix account.
Dr. Steve Libutti, the William N. Hait director of the Rutgers Cancer Institute and the overseer of the hospital, said it’s all by design.
“The Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center was designed to look like a hotel, not a hospital,” he said.
It was done for one simple reason: It helps the treatment.
“We refer to the psychology of cancer and the biology of cancer,” Libutti explained.
It starts on Day One.
“There are probably no worse words you can hear from a medical professional than, ‘You have cancer,’” he said. “Patients immediately begin to plan their funeral, as opposed to when you hear, ‘You have heart disease, you had a stroke, you have diabetes’ — where patients immediately think, ‘OK, there are treatments for that,’ or, ‘That’s a bummer, but they’ll be able to treat me.’
“I see it as our job not just to have the best possible treatments for patients, but we have to begin to care for that psychological portion of the diagnosis as quickly and as soon as we can — and then maintain that throughout their entire care experience.”
It’s clinically proven, Libutti said.
“I think there’s been good research showing that that positive state of mind helps with outcome,” he said. “So, even if it didn’t help with biologic outcome, the mere fact that the patient feels more comfortable as they’re going through their treatment means they’re going to be more compliant with their treatment.”
That comfort level is everywhere.
Consider the shower. Libutti said the center did extensive surveys of patient wants. One of the biggest was the ability to take a private shower — a reasonable request for someone whose treatment could take a few days or a few weeks.
The request was easily granted. The individual bathroom was built slightly larger and included a seat and a handheld showerhead. The tile floor was built on a slope, meaning all the water would run toward the drain — and there would be no reason to have a ledge that may be tough for some to step over.
It’s more than a personal touch, Libutti said. It’s a differentiator. Something that he feels will separate “The Morris” from the 13 other freestanding cancer hospitals in the country.
“Every NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center does the research part and the expert clinical care part exceptionally well, but not everyone does the psychology support and care part exceptionally well,” he said. “It is our mission to do both exceptionally well and pay equal attention to each, and we hope that this building is a manifestation of the commitment to achieve that — and that’s been our focus since the planning phase. We wanted this to be patient centered.”
No matter the cost.
“As you can imagine when you are building something like this, there are conversations about, ‘What can you sacrifice for cost?’” he said. “We’ve been very intentional about not sacrificing those pieces that are so important in supporting the patient and making the patient feel like they’re home and they’re cared for.”
Call it a golden rule of health care.
“I really believe every patient should be cared for as if it were your mom,” he said. “That’s what we are going to do here. This is the way I would want my family member to be cared for.”
