MAY 25, 2023 – Partnership brings brand new, 70,000 square foot Cancer Center at Totowa to offer the most advanced, comprehensive cancer care throughout the region.
St. Joseph’s Health and Hackensack Meridian Health are proud to announce the opening of The Cancer Center at Totowa, located on the St. Joseph’s Health Totowa campus, in partnership with Hackensack Meridian’s John Theurer Cancer Center. The new center, spanning 70,000 square feet at 225 Minnisink Road in Totowa, is the marquee facility of the partnering organizations’ three enhanced cancer centers – a combined effort to bring comprehensive cancer care throughout the region.
Cancer patients are treated at the new outpatient facility in Totowa by the very best multi-disciplinary, disease-specific teams of specialists, experts, and medical practitioners to support them through every aspect of their cancer journey, from screening and diagnosis to treatment and survivorship.
“We are pleased to open the Cancer Center at Totowa and bring unprecedented evaluation and treatment in cancer care to more residents. It’s really a tremendous endeavor. Cancer patients will be treated by our nationally-recognized team from Hackensack University Medical Center’s John Theurer Cancer Center,” says Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. “This was our vision all along – to make sure every patient has access to the greatest care there is in their journey.”
“Opening the new cancer center is a major step forward in launching a comprehensive cancer care program as a collaboration between our two organizations,” says Kevin. J. Slavin, President & CEO of St. Joseph’s Health. “We’re thrilled to bring the advanced expertise of the John Theurer Cancer Center to residents in the surrounding communities. When our teams work together, our patients win.”
Services being offered at the Cancer Center at Totowa include genomic testing, immunotherapy, diagnostic services, infusion services, lab services, medical oncology, radiation therapy, and targeted therapy, plus nutrition and counseling. Medical research will also be a hallmark of the facility, and there is a suite of novel clinical trials ready to launch and offer renewed hope.
“We wanted to create a new program in an unmet area where there was not enough access to advanced oncologic services,” notes Andre Goy, MD, chairman and chief physician officer of the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center. “The future is diagnostic; it’s moving toward early diagnosis, early intervention, and prevention, and to be able to bring those capabilities to an untapped region in our state and reduce the impact of cancer is outstanding.”
The center will also introduce cutting-edge genetic services to the area. Any patient with a predisposition for or family history of cancers with a high genetic contribution – breast, stomach, prostate, and others – can be screened by a specialist to test for cancer risk.
“We are offering highly specialized care,” notes Elias Obeid, MD, MPH, medical director of medical oncology, who specializes in both breast cancer and cancer genetics and will be leading the partnership cancer programs in Totowa, Paterson and Wayne. “I’m able to bring my expertise to this center, so that any time a patient presents with cancer, they are going to see a physician who specializes in that specific cancer. We will have disease specific cancer evaluation centers on site, and any follow-up will be performed here; it’s truly a comprehensive care approach all in one location for the community.”
The Cancer Center at Totowa is shared with the community in part through a generous donation by the Nicholas Martini Foundation and Judge William Martini, a long-time supporter of healthcare and educational efforts throughout Northern New Jersey. “Our family is thrilled to see how this cancer center has come to life, all for the benefit of patients within this region,” says the Hon. William J. Martini, a United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey and president of the Nicholas Martini Foundation. “This is the future of health care.”
With a shared goal of providing all New Jersey residents access to advanced, high-quality health care, Hackensack Meridian Health and St. Joseph’s Health networks began collaborating in 2017, co-launching Visiting Health Services of New Jersey. The organizations’ partnership expanded in 2019 to include the areas of oncology and rehabilitation, bringing advanced rehabilitation services to St. Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center and the most advanced John Theurer Cancer Center oncology specialists to all of the St. Joseph’s Health campuses.
John Theurer Cancer Center is part of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center. It has been recognized by US News & World Report as one of the state’s premier cancer centers in New Jersey.
