In appreciation of a visionary gift of $30 million from Andrea and Anthony Melchiorre, RWJBarnabas Health officials announced Wednesday that the multidisciplinary standalone cancer center now under construction on the system’s flagship campus in Livingston will be known as the Melchiorre Cancer Center at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center.
The facility is scheduled to open in 2025. It will serve the northern hub for RWJBarnabas Health’s oncology services.
“Like countless families, we have been personally touched by cancer,” Andrea and Anthony Melchiorre said in a release. “We know that this new cancer center, which will bring together the region’s top oncologists with best-in-class services in one dedicated setting, will bring renewed hope to people in New Jersey and throughout the region.”
The Melchiorre family has been extremely generous to the hospital over the past 12 years — supporting numerous programs, including the Cooperman Family Pavilion, radiation oncology and the emergency department. The family’s most recent commitment brings their total giving to the hospital to nearly $50 million and supports the new $225 million, five-story, 137,000-square-foot cancer center.
RWJBarnabas Health CEO Mark Manigan said the system was honored by the gesture.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Melchiorre family for this profoundly generous gift, as well as for their unwavering service to CBMC and RWJBarnabas Health,” he said. “Through their investment, we are expanding access to cancer care across New Jersey.”
Bruce Schonbraun, chair of the board of trustees at CBMC, said the impact of the gift will be huge.
“As a member of the board of trustees since 2017, Andrea has embodied visionary leadership and support and has helped build CBMC into a true regional and national destination for world-class cancer care,” he said. “I join the board, leadership, medical staff and the entire organization in conveying our unending gratitude to Andrea and Anthony.”
Building on their longstanding partnership, RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey are making transformative statewide investments to reimagine cancer care. The Melchiorre Cancer Center, along with the Vogel Medical Campus in Monmouth County and the Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center in New Brunswick, which will be New Jersey’s first freestanding cancer hospital, will bring together nationally recognized physicians and provide the most advanced cancer treatments and compassionate care for the communities we serve.
“RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute have created an integrated world-class network of comprehensive cancer research and care, bringing new state-of-the-art facilities such as the Melchiorre Cancer Center close to home for patients,” Dr. Steven Libutti, director of Rutgers Cancer Institute and senior vice president, oncology services at RWJBarnabas Health, said.
“We are extremely grateful to supporters like the Melchiorre family who are helping us transform the face of cancer, together.”
Glenn Miller, the chief development officer for RWJBarnabas Health, said the efforts of the Melchiorre family are vital to the hospital’s mission.
“Expanded capabilities and facilities are made possible in part thanks to growing philanthropic investments being made to the health system,” he said. “People want to support our mission — and they want to fight cancer. This gift from Andrea and Anthony is the fifth historic gift that we have received in the last few years. We are humbled by these visionary investments that inspire donors at all levels.”
