On LI, a new cancer hospital and cancer center

Long Island is home to a new cancer hospital, located in New Hyde Park.

Thanks to a gift from Roy Zuckerberg, a longtime Northwell Health trustee, the healthcare system created the 164-bed R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Hospital at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and the 150,000-square-foot R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center, an ambulatory cancer center.

“We are extraordinarily grateful to Roy for his visionary gift in helping to create a cancer campus, one that unifies LIJ’s superb surgical cancer care with our cutting-edge outpatient oncology programs,” Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, said in a statement. “This is the first-of-its kind cancer campus on Long Island and in Queens, which will help us further integrate services and deliver the highest level and best possible cancer care to patients in the region.”

The gift, whose amount was not disclosed, will also allow for an endowed chair in cancer research within the health system as it seeks top talent in the field.

Upcoming plans at the campus include dedicated oncology floors so cancer patients will be paired with experienced oncology nurses; a new women’s cancer center focused on treating women with breast and gynecologic cancers in a healing and tranquil setting; a Center for Genomic Medicine that can perform tumor profiling for all patients; and new technology to treat liver cancer. There are also plans to transfer the bone marrow transplant and CAR-T immunotherapy program from North Shore University Hospital to increase the program’s size.

The cancer hospital includes 164 of LIJ’s 583 beds, dedicated to treating patients with various types of cancer including breast, pancreatic, lung, head and neck, colon, urologic and gynecologic cancers. And on most days, four to six operating rooms are used for open or robotic cancer surgery, according to Northwell.

The cancer center includes 64 infusion bays and provides outpatient treatment in the specialties of medical oncology including chemotherapy, immunotherapy and hormone therapy; comprehensive radiation medicine; surgical and neurological consults; clinical trials; diagnostic imaging; a pharmacy; and support programs for cancer patients and their loved ones.

The hospital and cancer center are “literally across the street from our state-of-the-art comprehensive ambulatory cancer center, which allows us to streamline cancer services for optimal care,” Dr. Richard Barakat, physician-in-chief and director of cancer services at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, said in a statement. “What makes us so unique is that we provide comprehensive medical care as our standard of cancer care, meaning virtually any medical condition patients have or side effects they may experience can be treated by our specialists in one health system.”

With more than 400 physicians, Northwell Health Cancer Institute treats more than 19,000 cancer patients annually, more than any other provider in New York State.

Zuckerberg spent 31 years at Goldman Sachs and was its longest serving partner before retiring as vice chairman in 1998. He was first introduced to LIJ in 1972 while seeking treatment for his 3-year-old daughter at the hospital’s hearing and speech center.

“I’ve had a passion for LIJ since I saw the remarkable care my daughter received there, and it inspired me to get involved in the hospital,” Zuckerberg said in a statement.

Zuckerberg later became a member of LIJ’s board of directors and served as the hospital’s chairman, where he helped lead the merger between LIJ and North Shore Health System in 1997. He also served as chairman of the North Shore-LIJ Health System.

“My inspiration for giving came from seeing my father make gifts to various causes,” Zuckerberg said. “While my father was not a wealthy man, I saw enough to realize there are people who help people in the world. There’s nothing more important than making a sick person well, and the place to do that is in a hospital or a place where healing happens.”