Leading cancer care provider Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) is proud to announce that it has added a new location in Edison, N.J., with the joining of long-standing, Edison-based practice Oncology and Hematology Associates of Central Jersey PA into the RCCA network of facilities, effective Jan. 1, 2022. The addition of this practice will now bring RCCA’s number of centers providing individualized and highly compassionate care for cancer and blood disorders throughout New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and the Washington, D.C., area to over 25.
Co-founded in 1991 by medical oncologist Arvind Kumar, MD, MS, the four-physician oncology and hematology practice has been providing residents of Middlesex County with high-quality, personalized care for cancer and blood disorders for over 25 years and has become a renowned part of the fabric of that community.
According to RCCA Chief Medical Officer Iuliana Shapira, MD, Oncology and Hematology Associates’ values align closely with RCCA’s own patient-centric approach to care and the coming together of these two practices represents a perfect fit.
“At RCCA, we’re dedicated to staying on top of new advances in medicine, keeping patients informed, treating them to the very best of our abilities, and never giving up hope,” Dr. Shapira said. “Oncology and Hematology Associates of Central Jersey PA matches our desire to serve our patients with dignity, respect and compassion, and help ensure that they live long and productive lives.
“RCCA’s brand and high quality of care attracts patients from all over,” Dr. Shapira added, “but we didn’t previously have a presence in the Edison, N.J. area. As a result, we’re grateful to have identified this practice, which aligns so strongly with our philosophy of care so that we can now refer patients there and extend greater access to our services.”
RCCA President and CEO Terrill Jordan agreed. “All of RCCA’s clinic offices have been around for over 25 to 30 years and Oncology and Hematology Associates has been around just as long. They have deep roots in their community and care about its residents,” he said. “By providing their physicians with access to the strength of RCCA’s extensive resources, industry relationships, processes and platform, we’ll help enhance their physicians’ experience and create the space for their clinical staff to focus even more on the all-important physician-patient relationship.
“Through our commitment to keeping our physicians and practice independent, patients can benefit from high-quality care at reasonable costs,” Jordan added. “By having Oncology and Hematology Associates join with RCCA, we’ll have the opportunity to extend our services to a larger part of the community we serve and ensure that more and more patients have access to the most elevated level of care.”
A Win-Win Situation
Dr. Kumar — who practices at Oncology and Hematology Associates along with fellow oncologists/hematologists Dr. Niloo Prasad (co-founder), Dr. Chitra Kumar and Dr. Avishek Kumar — has over 30 years of expertise in the field of oncology and has been well-known to and highly regarded by RCCA physicians. Among his vast experience, he served as chief of medical oncology at Hackensack Meridian Health’s JFK University Medical Center in Edison, where he was also a member of the hospital’s executive committee, and has taught medical students and residents at both Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield and Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy.
“Over the years, the field of oncology has expanded exponentially with thousands of new and innovative treatment regimens — from breakthrough immunotherapies to monoclonal antibodies and much more — and our practice’s alignment with RCCA and access to their strong industry relationships, clinical trial platforms and research opportunities will ultimately allow us to dedicate more time to each patient and deliver the best treatment possible,” Dr. Kumar said of the decision to join RCCA. “Joining with RCCA will allow us to modernize our office operations so that we can spend more time with patients and provide the highest-quality care.” Within diverse Middlesex County, which has a large Indian and South Asian population, he added, “many residents don’t speak English and will feel comfortable coming to us, which will help RCCA to extend access to quality cancer care in this diversely populated central region.”
Among the most rewarding aspects of his job, Dr. Kumar said that he loves how the continued evolution and innovation occurring within the field of oncology have enabled patients to live long, happy and healthy lives. “We can now cure certain diseases and/or put them into remission for a long time,” he said of the positive progress that’s been made. “When I see patients that I treated 20 years ago who are in complete remission or fully cured, that gives me tremendous satisfaction.”
So does the exciting new chapter his practice will start as part of the RCCA network in January 2022.
“RCCA has a strong presence in many different states as well as an exceptional team of oncologists and hematologists on staff,” Dr. Kumar said. “We’re always dedicated to doing what’s in the best interest of our patients and being part of RCCA will give us access to the planning and research that will benefit the patients in our community greatly.”
“It’s a win-win situation for patients, who will enjoy greater access to RCCA’s high-quality standards and services all very close to home — they don’t have to travel into New York City to get the great care available right in their own community,” agreed RCCA’s Dr. Shapira, who added that, as part of RCCA, Oncology and Hematology Associates’ patients will have access to a larger clinical network and a broad range of other beneficial services within the RCCA clinical chain.
“Overall, we couldn’t be more excited about our two complementary practices coming together,” RCCA’s Jordan concluded. “By joining RCCA, we’ll ensure that the former Oncology and Hematology Associates of Central Jersey practice remains a long-standing institution in the Middlesex County community and continues to offer friends, families and neighbors the highest-quality care in an accessible way.”
With more than 25 care centers located throughout New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and the Washington, D.C., area, RCCA offers patients immunotherapy, targeted treatment, cell-based therapy and other cutting-edge treatments and diagnostic modalities, as well as access to clinical trials. RCCA provides individualized and highly compassionate care to all patients with cancer and blood disorders. For more information, contact RCCA at 844-928-0089 or visit RCCA.com. RCCA’s new location in Edison (formerly Oncology and Hematology Associates of Central Jersey PA) is located at 2177 Oak Tree Road, Suite 104 and can be reached at 908-755-1165.
For more information or to schedule an appointment,
call 844-346-7222. You can also schedule an appointment by calling the RCCA location nearest you.
With care centers in New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and the Washington, D.C., area, thousands of patients each year have come to rely on the expertise, dedication and compassion of Regional Cancer Care Associates.
More than 80 medical oncologists and hematologists affiliated with Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) – one of the nation’s largest networks of oncology specialists — are on the frontlines of the fight against cancer in New Jersey, providing care to well over 100,000 people each year in 19 community-based practices across the Garden State.
The American Cancer Society will host its 43rd annual Diamond Ball Gala on November 24, 2024, at the Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park, NJ.
Regional Cancer Care Associates is one of fewer than 200 medical practices in the country selected to participate in the Oncology Care Model (OCM); a recent Medicare initiative aimed at improving care coordination and access to and quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
