Joan and Robert Rechnitz Launch $5 Million Giving Challenge at Riverview Medical Center

Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center Foundation is proud to announce a $5 million donation from Joan and Robert Rechnitz, founders of the Two River Theater Company, to support the advancement of the robotic surgery program at the Riverview Medical Center. The gift does not come without a call to action to other members of the community, as the Rechnitzes designated this a giving challenge, encouraging an additional $5 million to be raised in 2018.

Robotic Surgery was first introduced at Riverview Medical Center in 2013, again with thanks to Joan and Robert Rechnitz, who funded the original da Vinci® Si Robotic Surgical System. Since implementation, nearly 1,000 patients have been treated using this state-of-the-art surgical equipment. The advanced technology allows surgeons to make very small incisions like traditional laparoscopic surgery, but with improved visualization and range of motion. With enhanced visual surgery, treatment of a wide variety of colorectal, general, gynecologic, and urologic conditions, which previously required open surgery, are now completed with the most minimally invasive of techniques, helping patients recover faster with reduced postoperative pain and minimal incisions and scarring. The Rechnitz’s most recent donation will bring a significantly upgraded robotic surgery model, the da Vinci Xi, to the medical center.

“Both Joan and I are incredibly thankful for the care we receive at Riverview Medical Center and that makes our giving extremely meaningful to us,” explains Robert Rechnitz, who is also a trustee of Riverview Medical Center Foundation. “We do hope the larger community responds to our wish to bring more philanthropic support to the hospital, continuing to ensure it’s a place we can all rely on for the highest quality health care.”

Joan and Robert Rechnitz have been long-time friends and donors of Riverview Medical Center and Hackensack Meridian Health, having supported the launch of Hackensack Meridian Integrative Health & Medicine in 2015, as well as surgical services and other clinical needs in the past.

“The Rechnitzes are among the most profound supporters of Riverview Medical Center in the hospital’s history,” explains Timothy J. Hogan, FACHE, president of Riverview Medical Center and Hackensack Meridian Health Bayshore Medical Center. “Their recent challenge to motivate others to elevate their giving in a way that benefits so many of our family members, friends and neighbors, is a testament to how generous they truly are. We could not be more grateful.”

Through the new $5 million challenge grant, there are several priorities for philanthropic support should a potential donor show interest, including; oncology, private patient rooms, behavioral health services, enhanced surgical technology, as well as integrative health and medicine.

To learn more about how you can participate in the Rechnitz’s giving challenge, contact Jennifer Smith, senior executive director of Riverview Medical Center Foundation at jenniferl.smith@hmhn.org or 732-751-5115.

About Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center

Riverview Medical Center is a 492-bed not-for-profit community hospital located on the Navesink River in Red Bank, New Jersey. Riverview Medical Center provides health care programs and services in all major medical disciplines including: maternity, surgical services, emergency and critical cancer services. Riverview’s Cancer Care Center offers comprehensive cancer services close to home, while Riverview’s Jane H. Booker Women and Children’s Center combines expertise and convenience to address preventative health, diagnosis, treatment, and support for women of all ages. Riverview Rehabilitation Center is Monmouth County’s only fully-accredited inpatient rehabilitation facility, and Riverview Medical Center is a designated Primary Stroke Center and has also maintained prestigious Magnet designation for Nursing Excellence since 1998. Riverview Medical Center is the only hospital in the region with the groundbreaking CyberKnife® system, offering new hope for patients with inaccessible or inoperable tumors. For more information about Riverview Medical Center and Hackensack Meridian Health, please call 1-800-DOCTORS or visit www.riverviewmedicalcenter.com.

About Hackensack Meridian Health

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 16 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children’s hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; 11 community hospitals - Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, and Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has more than 160 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, and urgent care and after-hours centers. Hackensack Meridian Health has 33,000 team members, and 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The network's notable distinctions include having one of only five major academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades America's 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more consecutive years, four hospitals among the top 10 in New Jersey, including Hackensack University Medical Center which is ranked No. 1 by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, recipient of the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality from The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum, a six-time recipient of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For," one of the "20 Best Workplaces in Health Care" in the nation, and the number one "Best Place to Work for Women." Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.