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The basics:

• Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center opens in New Brunswick
• NJ’s first freestanding cancer hospital begins outpatient care
• RWJBarnabas, Rutgers Cancer Institute lead the project
• Facility designed to feel warm, welcoming for patients and families

The power and potential of the new Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center in New Brunswick was on full display Monday.

NJBIZ has reported extensively on the new facility, New Jersey’s first and only freestanding, comprehensive cancer hospital, which officially welcomed its first patients for outpatient care June 23. RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute are joint stakeholders on the facility.

In addition to the staff, hospital leadership was on hand – along with local mascots from the New Jersey Devils, Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Somerset Patriots – to welcome patients on this milestone day. Hospital officials estimated some 500 patients would come through the doors as they ramp up operations – with that number expected to increase to nearly 1,000 patients in the coming days and weeks.

Real impact, real understanding

The Morris is designed with the patients and their family’s comfort and experience first and foremost, offering an inviting vibe that does not feel like a cancer hospital.

On Monday, the long journey of planning, process, construction and now opening came to fruition. It was now time to see the real-world impacts of this state-of-the-art facility.

And there was no better embodiment than 5-year-old Serina Patel, who is being treated for leukemia that she was diagnosed with nearly two years ago. Serina stole the show on this first day – exhibiting great strength, charisma, spirit and joy as she battles a horrible disease.

Her father, Ajay, was kind enough to share her story and speak with reporters.

“She’s 5 now – but a lot of our strength comes from her,” Patel told reporters. He noted how when she was first diagnosed, the family was in denial. But he credited his daughter’s physician, Dr. Scott Moerdler, for the diagnosis, as well as his grace as the family asked him a slew of questions.

“We were in denial – I was in denial as a parent,” said Patel. “When you hear the word cancer, you automatically associate it with the worst ending. You always think that’s there nothing that you could do to treat it. So, I had a million questions for Dr. Moerdler – and he answered every one.

“He didn’t just brush the façade. He sat and made sure we understood the course of treatment – that it was curable.”

‘This doesn’t even look like a hospital’

Ajay Patel shared that as he and his wife processed this reality – that they were trying to put a brave face on for Serina. And then, the first time he saw his daughter getting ready for a procedure – he began to shed some tears.

“She saw me crying – and she’s like, ‘Dad, come here.’ And then she grabs my face, and she’s like, ‘it’s going to be okay,’” said Ajay Patel.

He described the facility as amazing – saying he has never seen a hospital like this.

“This doesn’t even look like a hospital – it looks like an amusement park,” he said.

That feeling was exactly what the leaders and stakeholders envisioned with the Morris Cancer Center. The pediatric floor is one of the most unique aspects of this game-changing facility – offering a Jersey Shore beach and boardwalk theme; with a slew of comforts and amenities for those special, courageous young patients.

“We didn’t want to it to feel like a hospital,” Mark Manigan, president and CEO, RWJBarnabas Health, told reporters. “And this place doesn’t feel like a hospital.”

Manigan said that seeing patients like Serina brings the whole thing home.

“In a couple of way – the importance of the mission; creating an environment to treat this insidious disease that’s warm and welcoming. And can make it that much less terrible for those who are suffering and for the caregivers,” said Manigan. “So, we’re totally committed to this mission of curing cancer. And through our partnership with Rutgers – in research and education, finding the next best way to treat those who are suffering.

“This building is a reflection of that commitment – and we’re going to help a lot of people.”

All the feels

A closer look

• See more from opening day here.
• See more facility photos here.

The namesake, renowned developer, Jack Morris (also chair of the board of directors for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital) described the facility as more than unique: as life-changing and game-changing. He exhibited his pride about having a place of this caliber right here in the great Garden State.

“It just brings such a smile to my face because it’s what I envisioned,” Morris told reporters. “And to see your vision actually become reality is – I just don’t have words to describe it.”

Morris said it is all about the patients, just like Serina.

“It’s about the patients we serve – and the people who serve them,” said Morris. “It gives us the ability to do things we couldn’t do before.”

Morris said that every time he walks into the sparkling hub that bears he and his wife’s names he gets a different feeling.

“When we had the ribbon cutting, it was one feeling,” he explained. “Today when I walked in – it was like, ‘Oh, it’s really happening.’ And it’s just so great to see it happening.”