Northwell unveils new 'hospital within a hospital' at LIJ

Northwell Health has converted nearly 30% of the beds at Long Island Jewish Medical Center into a "hospital within a hospital" devoted to cancer care, and it plans to spend $50 million over three years to expand cancer services there and at a nearby outpatient facility.

The new R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Hospital at LIJ in New Hyde Park includes 164 inpatient oncology beds, more than half of them in private rooms, and four to six operating rooms for open or robotic surgery, Northwell said. LIJ is not adding to its 583 beds, but centralizing the beds dedicated to cancer care.

Across the street from LIJ, the 150,000-square-foot outpatient R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center at 450 Lakeville Road has 64 infusion bays for intravenous treatment, among other services.

Northwell is expanding cancer treatment programs at both facilities over the next few years. 

“This is going to completely change the way that patients receive care,” said Dr. Richard Barakat, physician-in-chief and director of cancer services at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute and senior vice president of cancer services. “When you centralize care, you improve the quality of care,” since all the doctors, nurses and other staff members specialize in cancer, he said.

The inpatient and outpatient facilities are named for Roy J. Zuckerberg, a longtime Northwell trustee whose donation helped fund the programs along with a new endowed chair in cancer research, Northwell said. Zuckerberg is co-chair of Northwell’s fundraising campaign, which has cancer care as one of its top priorities. Northwell aims to raise $1.4 billion by December 2024.

“My inspiration for giving came from seeing my father make gifts to various causes,” Zuckerberg said in a statement. “While my father was not a wealthy man, I saw enough to realize there are people who help people in the world.”

The inpatient facility at LIJ treats breast, pancreatic, lung, head and neck, colon, urologic and gynecologic cancers. Northwell analyzed the current use of hospital beds to determine how many should be centralized in the cancer program, Barakat said. If needed, some of the cancer beds can be repurposed for patients with other conditions, he said. 

The inpatient facility also will house a bone marrow transplant program that is now located at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. The transplant program treats about 100 patients a year and is expected to triple in size, Barakat said.

The outpatient facility offers chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, radiation medicine, surgical and neurological consultations, clinical trials, diagnostic imaging, a pharmacy and support programs for patients and caregivers, Northwell said. It will include a women’s cancer center, expected to open in early 2024, and a Center for Genomic Medicine that will analyze the genetic profiles of tumors. The center is set to open in mid-2023.

The inpatient/outpatient cancer campus “will help us further integrate services and deliver the highest level and best possible cancer care to patients in the region,” Michael J. Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell, said in a statement.

Northwell, New York state’s largest private employer and provider of health care, treats more than 19,000 cancer patients a year. Systemwide, Northwell  expects to spend $500 million to increase cancer services over the next three years.

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott covers health care and other business news on Long Island.