Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (CBMC) broke ground on a $225 million, five-story, 137,000-square-foot cancer center on its Livingston campus this week.

The new facility, which is set to be completed in 2025, will serve as the northern hub for the integrated oncology services offered by RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The construction is part of the expansion of those services, as well as an ongoing transformation of the medical campus.

“The new Cancer Center at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center will be a regional destination for cancer care, building on the medical center’s longstanding legacy of clinical expertise and compassionate, patient-centered diagnosis and treatment,” said Richard Davis, the hospital’s president and CEO. “We are celebrating the dawn of a new era in world-class cancer care.”

The center will feature medical, surgical and radiation oncology services all under one roof with holistic support services that will include a wig and prosthetic studio; teaching kitchen; and yoga, reiki and music therapy.

It will also include private infusion rooms, a calming garden terrace, and short-term and extended-stay treatment spaces where patients can go for treatments to potentially prevent an Emergency Department visit.

In 2021, Leon and Toby Cooperman donated $100 million to the hospital, which has helped fuel its continued growth.

“We applaud the Cooperman Family Foundation for their longstanding support of our hospital and our entire community,” said Bruce Schonbraun, chairman of the board of trustees at CBMC. “Their extraordinary and selfless generosity has enabled this facility to expand its footprint and attract world-class physicians to bring the best healthcare available to northern New Jersey.”

“Breaking ground on a new Cancer Center at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center is the latest example of how RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey are reimagining cancer care for the communities we serve,” said Steven Libutti, director of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and senior vice president, Oncology Services at RWJBarnabas Health. “Together, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, are transforming cancer services in the region – bringing the latest discoveries and extraordinary, comprehensive cancer care close to home.”

Alison Grann, chair of the hospital’s Department of Radiation Oncology, said that CBMC already offers exceptional cancer care, so this will just take that care to the next level.

“This new building will provide the physical environment to match the clinical excellence,” said Grann. “This best-in-class, freestanding cancer center will provide the highest-quality science, treatment, and psychosocial services available, distinguishing it from the other centers in the region.”