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‘A CRITICAL INITIATIVE.’
‘A CRITICAL
INITIATIVE’
THE TANZMAN FOUNDATION ADDS TO ITS FOUNDERS’ LEGACY BY SUPPORTING RWJUH’S EXPANSION.
Jeffries Shein knew from the start that the expansion of surgical services at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) would be an important project. Shein is President of the Marion and Norman Tanzman Charitable Foundation, so his understanding of the project’s significance would have a major impact on financial support that is helping to make the project a reality.
“We felt it was important for us to be involved at an early stage of this critically important initiative,” Shein says. “Not only will it provide the hospital with state-of-the-art facilities, but because supporting the project is a community effort, we felt that doing our part up front could possibly encourage others to step up and participate.”
The Tanzman Foundation has made a $1 million commitment to the Momentum Campaign that supports the surgical services expansion and reconstruction. “We’re among the lead supporters,” Shein says—“but not the only one.”
TIMELY UPGRADE
The ambitious surgical services expansion broke ground in 2020 and is advancing in phases toward scheduled completion in 2025. Firstphase construction of a new three-story building adjacent to existing surgical facilities has already been finished.
The project adds three new advanced hybrid operating rooms (ORs), reconstructs every existing OR and provides a new Central Sterile Processing (CSP) unit that is responsible for cleaning and sterilizing all devices used in medical procedures across every unit at RWJUH. The transformation will help meet growing demands for complex procedures and more fully embrace forward-looking technologies that improve patient care.
“Technology has advanced so rapidly over the years that it’s important—
especially in ORs, where the changes have been dramatic—that the hospital provide state-of-the-art facilities not only for patients but for the doctors who operate in them,” Shein says. That’s become especially relevant as RWJUH has progressed as an academic medical center through its historical partnership with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Equally important are advances in the CSP unit, sometimes called the heart of a hospital. “Central Sterile Processing is something most people don’t think or even know about,” Shein says. “Yet it’s a vitally important support unit for the ORs.”
The expansion project promises to benefit patients in multiple ways,
The Tanzman Foundation has been a major supporter of RWJUH expansion initiatives, including surgical services and the Emergency Department (ED). At the ED dedication are (from left) Jeffries Shein, President, the Marion and Norman Tanzman Charitable Foundation; Rona Shein; Janice Bershad, Foundation Trustee; and Roy Tanzman, Foundation Trustee.
Shein says. Advanced facilities will enhance quality and improve outcomes. “But they also will help the hospital recruit first-class doctors, which has an additional direct benefit to patients,” he says. “RWJUH has long attracted top-notch talent, and part of the reason is having facilities that draw high performers.”
HISTORY OF SUPPORT
The Marion and Norman Tanzman Charitable Foundation has a history of offering critical funding for improvements in RWJUH facilities. “Norman Tanzman was a state senator, real estate developer, successful investor and my father-in-law,” Shein says. “He and his wife, Marion, focused on Central New Jersey for the vast bulk of their contributions. Their objective was to give back, and one of the best ways to do that is by enhancing healthcare and medical education. If the hospital is in a better position, that can only help the entire community.”
One example is the foundation’s ongoing support of fundraising activities sponsored by the hospital’s auxiliary organization such as a dinner dance held annually prior to the pandemic. Another example is the expansion and renovation of RWJUH’s Emergency Department (ED) in 2019.
“For many people, the ED provides a first impression of the hospital, similar to curb appeal for a home,” Shein says. “It was important to expand and modernize to give people a better understanding of the hospital and the services it provides.”
Under Shein’s leadership, the Tanzman Foundation became a
SURGICAL SERVICES EXPANSION: WHAT’S NEW
When completed, the five-year expansion of surgical services at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital will provide significant upgrades including: • New, larger operating rooms (ORs) • Hybrid ORs that combine traditional devices, instruments and equipment with medical imaging, robotics and other technologies for minimally invasive procedures • Bi-plane imaging, in which two rotating cameras provide surgeons with detailed, high-quality, 3D images • Integration systems in every OR that consolidate and organize patient data during procedures to minimize OR congestion, streamline information across multiple platforms and allow surgical staff to better focus on patient care • Easier use of mobile technologies, robotics and collaborative teams • A new, centralized Central Sterile
Processing (CSP) unit near
ORs that features enhanced high-capacity sterilization and decontamination, advanced water treatment, a dedicated elevator and a state-of-the-art automated conveyance system
key supporter for the project. “The renovated ED is gorgeous,” Shein says.
The Tanzman Foundation wants the surgical expansion project to achieve similar success. “Thanks to RWJUH, people in the local community can receive excellent healthcare without needing to travel to New York or Philadelphia,” Shein says. “The hospital is a tremendous asset to Central New Jersey.”
To support the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation, visit www.rwjuhgiving.org.
