Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation Launches $75 Million Beyond Extraordinary Campaign to Build New Cancer Center

With $39 million already raised, the public phase of the campaign began with a seven-week stint on ABC’s Times Square Jumbotron for the Beyond Extraordinary Campaign video and warm words from the novelist and national campaign chair, Mary Higgins Clark.

There was magic in the air at Times Square this holiday season. From November through New Year’s Day, passersby were treated to an extraordinary sight: a snowflake whirling through the air to survive a plunge into the ocean.

This small miracle was part of a dynamic animation sequence playing on the ABC Jumbotron to mark the launch of the Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation’s new $75 million fundraising effort Beyond Extraordinary, the campaign for the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC). To see the campaign animation sequence, visit www.beyondextraordinary.org.

“The new John Theurer Cancer Center will further enhance the reputation of our entire hospital, whose size and patient volume is a magnet for innovative researchers and practitioners,” said Joseph Simunovich, chairman of the HUMC Foundation Board of Trustees.

“With the launch of the Beyond Extraordinary Campaign, our commitment to our patients is to build one of the top cancer centers in the country.”

“The campaign symbol of a snowflake surviving in water represents our patients, more and more of whom will survive to enjoy long, full, and satisfying lives despite the threat of cancer,” said Robert L. Torre, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the HUMC Foundation.

“Patient experiences and outcomes at the cancer center have always been extraordinary. And now, as we begin construction of the new 155,000-square-foot John Theurer Cancer Center, our patients can look forward to even greater progress in a place that is truly ‘beyond extraordinary.’ Thanks to the generous spirits of major donors like Helena Theurer and others, we have begun an exciting new chapter, but we depend on added public support to reach our goals.”

The development of the cancer center marks a new leap forward for HUMC’s renowned cancer treatment program; in volume, already one of the top 10 largest providers of cancer care in the nation. HUMC’s cancer center physicians see 150 new cancer patients every week and conduct more than 200,000 follow-up visits each year. The center is focused on care and research, running more than 75 clinical trials annually in treating every form of the disease.

With $39 million in donations committed to the project, the Foundation laid plans for the public phase of the campaign, enlisting the support of mystery novelist Mary Higgins Clark as national chair of the campaign. Speaking at the campaign launch event in New York City on Thursday, November 13, 2008, Ms. Clark made the following observation: “As a writer, I know how powerful a word can be. And cancer remains one of the most frightening words in our vocabulary. But it doesn’t have to be. I don’t think people are aware of how many new treatments are available or how many people are saved by the kind of innovative care provided at the John Theurer Cancer Center. The doctors are superb; my daughter and I have both benefited from their remarkable skill and dedication. There’s a personal sense of everyone being totally involved with every patient, for whose comfort and dignity the beautiful new cancer center is being planned. I am honored to be the national campaign chairperson for the Beyond Extraordinary campaign because I know there is so much more to learn, so many more people to help, and I am confident that these are the people to do it.”

The campaign launch event, which was hosted by CBS 2 News anchor Chris Wragge, also acknowledged the three campaign co-chairs: Joseph T. Dockery, president-owner of Presige Motors; Lawrence R. Inserra, Jr., president of Inserra Shop-Rite Supermarkets, Inc.; and John Randolph Smith, president of the PSE&G Foundation. Helena Theurer, who donated $10 million in memory of her husband, John, spoke about the importance of the campaign. "A healthier quality of life is the most precious gift we can offer. Even now, troubled as we all are by the economic turmoil around us, we each have a responsibility to speak up and step up in support of the life-giving care this important new facility will provide for all."

John Theurer Cancer Center chairman and executive administrative director Andrew Pecora, M.D. concurred. "I'm proud of what we have already accomplished, but even more excited about the future of the John Theurer Cancer Center. For example, when it comes to advancing the care and treatment of cancer patients, getting them into clinical trials is of paramount importance. Nationwide, only 10 percent of the cancer patients eligible for trials are actually participating in one. In the better hospitals, that percentage rises to 20 or 30 percent. I'm proud to say that here at HUMC, fully 60 percent of our patients are in clinical trials, and that can make all the difference to a patient with complex conditions, even those with cancers others might consider untreatable. Our new facility will help us accomplish even more and give every cancer patient what they need most — hope."