12-Story, $750 Million Cancer Center Opens In New Brunswick

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Tuesday was the unveiling of New Jersey’s first and only freestanding cancer hospital, the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center in New Brunswick.

It is owned by RWJBarnabas Health, which also runs the Rutgers Cancer Institute. It is connected by a skybridge to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the Rutgers Cancer Institute. They expect to start treating outpatients in late spring, with inpatient care beginning at the end of the summer.

This is only the beginning of RWJBarnabas' $1.5-billion investment in New Jersey cancer detection and treatment: In the fall of 2025, RWJBarnabas plans to open the Melchiorre Cancer Center at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. That will be its "northern hub" for cancer care. In late 2026, RWJBarnabas will also open a cancer center at its Vogel medical building in Tinton Falls on the Jersey Shore.

The Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center is named for Jack Morris, a Highland Park native who made hundreds of millions in the real estate and gambling industries, alongside his wife, Sheryl.

Located at 165 Somerset Street in New Brunswick, it is a 12-story facility that costs $750 million to build. The cancer center was developed in cooperation with the New Brunswick Development Corporation. The Morris husband and wife also contributed their own money to build the cancer center; the donation amount will remain private.

Morris is currently chair of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital's board of directors, which decides where the healthcare company invests money. Morris is also credited with brokering the 2016 deal that merged Barnabas Health with Robert Wood Johnson Health System, to form New Jersey's largest hospital network and arch-rival to Hackensack Meridian.

Morris made his fortune in the real estate development business. When he was 18 years old, he founded Jack Morris Construction custom home building. He is currently president and CEO of Edgewood Properties, based Piscataway and which employs 500 people. Edgewood owns and manages commercial and residential real estate around the country.

Having made hundreds of millions in real estate, Morris then moved into casinos: He bought the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City from Carl Icahn, and then assumed co-ownership of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, also in AC, both of which he still owns today. He and his wife currently live in Bridgewater.

“Cancer touches the lives of everyone — and we believe that people should not have to travel to New York or Pennsylvania to get great cancer care," Morris said Tuesday at the unveiling. "It has been our vision, our hope and our dream to have the top cancer center in the nation right here in New Brunswick. Sheryl and I are so proud that we can play a role in helping to make this dream a reality.”

Gov. Phil Murphy joined RWJBarnabas Health CEO Mark Manigan, cancer patients, cancer survivors and others for the grand opening and tours of the new building Tuesday. Former governor Chris Christie was also in attendance.

The center has 96 inpatient beds on three floors, 88 infusion bays and 80 exam rooms. They also detect and treat childhood cancer. Their pediatric unit has a "Jersey Shore" theme.

Take a video tour of the new cancer center:

The Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center says it will "have access to the most advanced cancer treatments including clinical trials, cellular therapies, precision medicine, blood and marrow transplantation, complex surgical procedures and sophisticated radiation therapy techniques."

The center also built space for cancer research and finding a cure for cancer. It has lab space for 10 research teams, "enabling the translation of scientific findings from 'bench to bedside,'" said RWJBarnabas Health.

Prior: Monmouth Medical Center Expands With New Vogel Medical Building In Tinton Falls (2022)

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