Health & Fitness
Bon Jovi Collaboration Planned For Monmouth Mall Demo Kitchen
This is the medical building currently under construction next to the Boscov's at Monmouth Mall. It is set to open in March.
EATONTOWN, NJ — The new branch of Monmouth Medical Center at the Monmouth Mall will be named the Anne Vogel Family Care and Wellness Center — and rocker Jon Bon Jovi has added his programming to a demo test kitchen on site to promote healthy eating.
Monmouth Medical Center’s demo kitchen team at the Eatontown outpatient center will be collaborating with the chef from Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen to provide cooking demonstrations and nutrition programs.
This is the medical building that is currently under construction next to the Boscov’s at the mall. It is in the final stages of construction and is set to open in March.
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RWJ Barnabas, the hospital system that owns and operates Monmouth Medical Center, announced the naming rights and news Tuesday.
The test kitchen will be named for Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea, who live in the area.
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They will be offering cooking classes and "innovative nutritional programs" from Soul Kitchen, located in Red Bank and Toms River. Bon Jovi founded Soul Kitchen to feed the hungry; diners pay whatever they want per meal and he did this erase the stigma of a "soup kitchen." The demo kitchen will be staffed by a full-time dietitian and if you live in the area, you should probably expect Bon Jovi to stop by from time to time.
“After more than a decade of serving the community at our JBJ Soul Kitchen restaurants, we know firsthand the importance of nutritious meals. We look forward to creating programs that can teach people cooking skills and healthy eating habits,"said Dorothea and Bon Jovi.
This is part of Monmouth Medical Center's attempt to reach healthcare customers right where they are: At the local mall, where they shop or go out to eat. RWJ Barnabas specifically designed the medical outpost to provide urgent care and pediatrics and to fill the healthcare needs of busy families with kids in the Eatontown, Tinton Falls and greater Middletown area.
Kushner Companies, which owns Monmouth Mall, is currently in the middle of an ambitious undertaking to try and save the mall and keep it viable. The developer is currently waiting on a redevelopment plan for the mall that will be drafted by town of Eatontown. The parking garage next to the medical building will be torn down, Kushner announced last week.
The medical outpost is partially funded by a $10 million gift from Sheldon Vogel, the former chief financial officer for Atlantic Records and now, in his retirement, a local New Jersey philanthropist.
Vogel made the donation in memory of his beloved late wife, Anne.
“Anne would be so proud that this special gift in her name will ensure that Monmouth Medical Center can continue to meet the evolving healthcare needs of our community for generations to come," said Vogel.
“We are so grateful to Sheldon," said Monmouth Medical Center President and CEO Eric Carney.
In addition to the demo kitchen, the four-story, 82,000 square-foot Anne Vogel Family Care and Wellness Center will also include:
- Renowned pediatric specialists in cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, pulmonology and infectious diseases through the Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center
- Children’s Specialized Hospital will offer outstanding programs in pediatric medical services, including neurology, psychiatry; as well as audiology, psychology, and physical, speech and occupational therapy
- Comprehensive women’s services, including maternal/fetal medicine and a breastfeeding center
- MMC’s pioneering Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders Center
- Bariatric Surgery and GI Disorders Center
- A wellness center and demonstration kitchen with programming named for Dorothea and Jon Bon Jovi
- A blood drawing station
- An Urgent Care Center
Previously, the Vogels gave a record-breaking $50 million donation given to Monmouth Medical Center in 2020 to establish the Vogel Medical Campus in Tinton Falls. That is located three miles away from the mall and is currently under development.
Prior: Monmouth Mall Plans To Tear Down Parking Garage (Feb. 17)
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