Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center’s HOPE Tower Welcomes Patients

Jersey Shore’s vision and goals for Hope Tower will transform the outpatient experience. Image courtesy of EYP

HOPE Tower, named for the Healing OutPatient Experience it is designed to foster, expands Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center’s comprehensive services by providing a thoughtful and accessible health care experience. Designed by EYP and located on the Jersey Shore University Medical Center campus, the $265 Million development includes HOPE Tower, a ten-story building housing a dedicated cancer center, outpatient imaging services, a clinical academic center, an innovative simulation laboratory and a nine-level parking garage building with more than 1,500 new parking spaces for patients, guests and team members.

“With the opening of HOPE Tower, we are transforming our outpatient experience. The new building, in its design and function, expresses what we have accomplished as an academic medical center and what we believe will be the most innovative, patient-centered health care experience for our community,” said Kenneth N. Sable, M.D., MBA, FACEP, president of Jersey Shore University Medical Center and K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital.

“It has been a rewarding experience to collaborate with the Jersey Shore team again on the design of HOPE Tower,” said EYP’s Tushar Gupta, AIA, the lead designer. “Having worked on the renovation and expansion of the main hospital on the campus, which opened in 2009, we had a clear understanding of Jersey Shore’s vision and goals for the new facility, which will transform the outpatient experience as the new hospital expansion did for inpatient care.”

The new facility creates a distinctive architectural anchor for the east side of the campus and a signature tower for outpatient services. From the embracing curve of the Cancer Center on the first two floors to the iconic oval form that extends through all floors, unifying the building and crowning the top, the architecture, in its materiality and design, is open and inviting with a glass facade framed in the red brick and metal panel used throughout the campus. A glass stair that runs the entire length of the building at the southeast corner offers long views out to the Atlantic. Waiting spaces located along the south side also enjoy an oblique view to the ocean.

HOPE Tower’s 58,000 square foot Cancer Care center offers comprehensive treatment options including surgical specialties, medical oncology, advanced radiation therapy and minimally invasive interventional therapies. The new center is designed for Jersey Shore’s multi-disciplinary team of specialists who deliver coordinated and compassionate care treating a range of oncological conditions.

As the region’s only academic university-level teaching center and as a clinical research facility, HOPE Tower is home to Meridian Research Services and the system’s medical education programs. Jersey Shore’s faculty—including physicians specializing in medical practice areas such as surgery, medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology—are headquartered at HOPE Tower. With expert clinicians, a state-of-the-art amphitheater, and a high-tech simulation laboratory, HOPE Tower is training the next generation of medical leaders and providing access to the most promising clinical trials and therapies.