Since opening our first house, the Ronald McDonald House of Central & Northern New Jersey has provided over 122,000 nights of stay to more than 13,000 families.

In 1987, the Ronald McDonald House in Long Branch was built on the campus of RWJBarnabas Monmouth Medical Center. Eight bedrooms with private baths provided respite for families for thirty-five years.

In 2000 and 2001, our chapter expanded to open two Ronald McDonald Family Rooms in the pediatric wings of the busiest hospitals in Monmouth County: Monmouth Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital in Long Branch and the K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

As New Jersey’s pediatric specialty services began to centralize and grow in New Brunswick, so did the critical need for another Ronald McDonald House. The New Brunswick House opened in 2005 with six bedrooms and private baths near to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at RWJ University Hospital, RWJBarnabas Children’s Specialized Hospital, and Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital.

Due to the changing needs of pediatric patients and their families, the Long Branch House Program was converted to a Family Room Program in 2022, and services were moved closer to the bedside on Monmouth Medical Center’s pediatric floor. Since this transition, we’ve served more local families than ever before.