The current health care model in America is primarily reactive sickcare — doctors, nurses and other medical professionals focus on treating the symptoms of an illness or condition. As such, health care in the US is currently a $4.3 trillion industry and represents an astounding 18.3% of our total economy.

Thanks to a new and expansive collaboration between Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) and Liberty Science Center (LSC), that model is about to be turned on its head to a proactive, more effective and less expensive approach that addresses the underlying causes of illnesses to catch them early on, manage them more effectively or prevent them before they even arise.

LSC and EY US announced today that EY US is assuming the role of Lead Orchestrator of a unique interdisciplinary Healthcare Innovation Engine at SciTech Scity, the 30-acre “Science City of Tomorrow” innovation campus being developed by LSC adjacent to its main facility in Jersey City. SciTech Scity’s mission is to galvanize world-changing scientific research, develop breakthrough technologies and catalyze businesses that use science and technology to address humanity’s greatest challenges, from inadequate health care, to climate change. The work of the Healthcare Innovation Engine will start now in advance of SciTech Scity’s physical opening in 2025 and 2026.

Paul Hoffman, president and CEO of Liberty Science Center and the visionary behind SciTech Scity, said that the overwhelming driver of the enormous health care costs in the US is “sickcare,” reactive, mostly hospital-based, point-in-time interventions. Although sickcare is a national challenge, it is especially pronounced in Hudson County, where Liberty Science Center and SciTech Scity are located. New Jersey’s fastest-growing county, Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the most densely populated state in the US. It is also one of the most diverse counties in the country, with 43% of its residents being foreign born and speaking a total of more than 40 first languages. Hudson County itself remains a tale of two cities, with median incomes and rent prices at the Jersey City waterfront being comparable to Downtown Manhattan but falling dramatically just a few miles inland. The poverty rate in Hudson County is almost 1.5 times the national average, and the number of doctors and health care professionals per capita is the lowest in New Jersey.

“We feel a strong shared responsibility to our community,” Hoffman said. “Everyone will benefit from the transformation of our current SICKcare system to a true HEALTHcare system that detects illnesses in their infancy, or prevents illnesses entirely, through cost-effective digital home health technology. But underserved neighborhoods that lack access to specialized medical care will benefit the most from health care that meets people where they live. SciTech Scity will work to foster the development and adoption of digital and home health technology.”

As Lead Orchestrator of the new Healthcare Innovation Engine, EY US will engage with a diverse group of stakeholders, including medical providers; established companies in the pharma, medtech and consumer health sectors; entrepreneurs and startups; medical insurers; community leaders and representatives; the academic community; and national, state and local public health officials. Home health technology will be vetted in a medical-care-of-the-future simulation center being built and operated at SciTech Scity by a leading medical center in Israel. Residents of Scholars Village, the 500 units of housing at SciTech Scity, will then have the opportunity to test the home health technology and improve their own health outcomes. Controlled tests will also be conducted in households in high-need neighborhoods in Hudson County — all under the guidance of the necessary governmental approval and regulatory boards and agencies.

“To advance the SICKcare-to-HEALTHcare vision, we are building an ecosystem of diverse partners, from universities and hospital systems, to public health officials, pharma and medtech companies, and community representatives,” Hoffman said. “Only through such a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach will we be able to transform a problem as pervasive as inadequate health care in America. So, I can’t thank EY enough for agreeing to be the Lead Orchestrator and bring together these partners and knowledge of best practices.”

“EY US is honored to be the Lead Orchestrator of the SciTech Scity’s Healthcare Innovation Engine,” said Arda Ural, PhD, EY Americas Industry Markets Leader, Health Sciences and Wellness. “Liberty Science Center’s renewed focus to lead with a preventative health care model aligns with EY Health’s purpose — and passion — to change the face of care delivery while helping health care organizations improve people’s lives with a human touch. We’re eager to begin this collaboration to enhance patients’ health experience via digital enablement and with a team of diverse team members.”

SciTech Scity will also work closely with colleges and universities in New Jersey and neighboring states to advance real-world applications for cutting-edge science and technology. The 80,000-student and faculty academic ecosystem that SciTech Scity is bringing together includes NYU Tandon School of Technology, NJIT, Stevens Institute of Technology, Rowan, Hudson County Community College and Fairleigh Dickinson. SciTech Scity will work with these institutions to showcase their most important innovations and promote their research and talent to the venture capital and corporate innovation communities.

LSC is engaged in a large expansion to build what will become the 30-acre SciTech Scity innovation campus located in Jersey City at the heart of New York Harbor, near the Statue of Liberty, and with exposure to almost one million annual LSC visitors, more than six million annual visitors to surrounding Liberty State Park and 23 million cars passing by each year on the turnpike. SciTech Scity will bring together technologists, scientists, entrepreneurs, civic leaders, citizens, teachers, students, and other thinkers and doers who share renowned computer scientist Alan Kay’s prescription that “the best way to predict the future is to invent it.” SciTech Scity will be a community infused with scientific creativity and actionable optimism about building a better future for all of us and using science to address society’s greatest challenges, from inadequate health care to climate change.

The first $450-million phase of this “Science City of Tomorrow” is scheduled to open in 2025 and 2026. In addition to Liberty Science Center, it includes:

• Edge Works: The business creation hub of SciTech Scity will be an eight-story facility called Edge Works housing laboratories, R&D spaces, office suites, co-working spaces and a product showcase for startup companies and universities that want to be part of this innovation ecosystem. The initial focus of Edge Works will be health care and clean tech/climate tech. Edge Works’ first innovation partner and international tenant is the leading medical center in Israel that will not be treating patients but rather creating a “hospital of the future” simulation space to showcase what health and medicine will look like in the near-term future.
• Scholars Village: Residential housing by Alpine Residential will be available for innovators, scientists, entrepreneurs, STEM graduate students, and individuals and families who desire to be a part of the SciTech Scity community and test new technologies before they come to market.
• Liberty Science Center High School: A new public magnet STEM high school for Jersey City and Hudson County will be built by the Hudson County Improvement Authority and operated by the Hudson County Schools of Technology. The school will offer programs focused on Earth (Sustainable Engineering and Climate Science), Life (Biological Sciences) and Space (Astrophysics) to 400 students in grades 9 through 12.
• Public Commons: A five-acre outdoor park will be created, complete with art installations; activations that encourage exploration, creativity, collaboration and innovation; and an events plaza for concerts, farmers markets, art exhibitions and food truck festivals.

Subsequent phases of SciTech Scity may include expanded incubation spaces, additional schools and other facilities to drive STEM innovation and job creation.

EY,  SciTech Scity