West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health and New Brunswick, N.J.-based Rutgers University signed a partnership to create a comprehensive sports medicine program to serve Rutgers students, staff and the community at large.
Under the terms of the partnership, RWJBarnabas will be the exclusive healthcare provider for Rutgers athletics. The two facilities will also break ground on the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center, which will house the sports medicine program and various athletic trainers, physical therapists, sports medicine physicians, orthopedic surgeons, sports psychologists, psychiatrists and nutritional experts, among others.
According to the agreement, RWJBarnabas will invest a total of $18 million into the program and the athletic complex. Officials said construction will begin in spring 2017.
"This is the next step in a partnership that will help us recruit nationally recognized researchers, specialists and clinical staff to provide the highest quality clinical care, leading-edge research, and top-tier health education and create a nationally recognized academic health center in New Jersey," said Brian Strom, executive vice president of health affairs and chancellor of Rutgers biomedical and health sciences, in a statement.