So much of the recent arms race for cancer care in the state has been about ensuring New Jerseyans no longer have to go to New York City or Philadelphia for world-class care.
And that’s important.
But after the official opening of the Melchiorre Cancer Center in Livingston Monday, RWJBarnabas Health CEO Mark Manigan said he is most proud of the fact that the Melchiorre is about ensuring people who aren’t able to leave the state have access to quality care, too.
“A lot of us here in New Jersey have the ability to go down,” Manigan told BINJE, nodding toward the major cancer centers across the river and down the turnpike. “Many don’t — whether it’s the work schedule, whether it’s the insurance profile. Our cancer program is accessible to everybody, irrespective of the ability to pay.”
For Manigan, that is the essence of what community health care is all about.
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More on the Melchiorre Cancer Center
Melchiorre’s big moment: Cancer Center opening is latest milestone for RWJBH
The Melchiorre is the second facility in RWJBarnabas Health’s $1.5 billion statewide cancer network, anchored by Rutgers Cancer Institute — New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center in New Brunswick opened a year ago. A third center, on the Vogel Medical Campus in Tinton Falls, opens next year.
Manigan said the investment isn’t only about bricks and mortar. It’s backed by ongoing commitments to research, clinical trials and physician recruitment — the infrastructure that makes NCI-designated care mean something at the neighborhood level.
“One of the most important things that we, as a health system, can do is to meet our patients where they are at the time they need us most,” he said. “For those across North Jersey who are taking on one of the toughest fights of their life — the fight against cancer — the trip for the best available, National Cancer Institute-designated care no longer requires a drive across a bridge, or through a tunnel. It will be right here, around the corner.”
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None of this happens without the state, Manigan said.
N.J. Health Commissioner Dr. Raynard Washington attended Monday’s ribbon-cutting — a presence Manigan said was meaningful, not ceremonial.
Manigan said the partnership between RWJBarnabas Health, Rutgers Cancer Institute and the state has been a decade in the making, and the results are measurable. Overall cancer mortality in New Jersey has dropped roughly 15% over that period, driven in part by the statewide screening program Screen NJ. Lung cancer mortality is now running 18% below the national average.
“We are grateful for state support, and we’re also incredibly confident that we put it to good work as intended by the grants and the legislative intent,” Manigan said. “We’re really proud of the relationships we have, and we’re really proud of the work we’ve done together — really elevating care for the entire state.”
Washington, for his part, said the Melchiorre reflects a shared commitment to making cancer care less complicated for the people who need it most. In other words, every community.
“Health care is too hard for too many people to navigate,” Washington said. “Having one place where folks can come and not just get their care, but get support, and get connected to all the other resources they need to be able to live a long, healthy life is absolutely incredible.”
Washington noted that close to 60,000 new cancer diagnoses are recorded in New Jersey each year. The people behind those numbers, he said, deserve what the Melchiorre is offering.
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Manigan said the Melchiorre was designed so that a patient walking in for the first time understands immediately that someone built this place for them — not just for the people with the best insurance or the most flexibility.
“When someone receives a cancer diagnosis around the corner,” he said, “right here in the neighborhood means more than convenience. It means more time for your family, more support for loved ones, and less burden during one of the most challenging times in life.”
