BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — Bergen County’s two major health-care systems are getting national attention for their cancer programs.

Hackensack Meridian Health and RWJBarnabas Health, together with Rutgers Cancer Institute, were named to Becker’s 2026 list of “100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Oncology Programs.”

For Hackensack Meridian, the recognition centers on the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, the flagship of its cancer program.

Becker’s highlighted the center’s 16 specialized divisions, more than 450 open clinical trials and major blood-cancer programs, including what Becker’s describes as the world’s largest multiple myeloma program.

RWJBarnabas Health was recognized alongside Rutgers Cancer Institute, which operates the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center and is home to New Jersey’s NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The recognition comes as RWJBarnabas is also moving deeper into Bergen County.

The health system signed a deal in January to bring Englewood Health into RWJBarnabas, a transaction that would make Englewood part of New Jersey’s largest hospital system. The deal still requires regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.

The planned merger includes a commitment of about $500 million in capital investment at Englewood over 10 years, according to the agreement.

That would put two of New Jersey’s biggest cancer-care players on an increasingly crowded Bergen County health-care map.

Hackensack Meridian’s cancer program was also recently ranked No. 1 in New Jersey and No. 38 nationally by U.S. News & World Report.

For Bergen County cancer patients, the takeaway is clear: the battle to deliver top-tier cancer care is getting bigger, and so are the systems competing for patients.