(06/05/06) TRENTON ? Representative Mike Ferguson (R-7th District) says he?s working to solve shortcomings in cancer care for New Jersey patients.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is the only advanced cancer center affiliated with the New Jersey Cancer Institute. However, Ferguson says Robert Wood Johnson actually loses $7 million per year on the treatment of Medicare cancer patients. Ferguson has now proposed increased federal funding for the hospital to close that $7 million gap.

According to Ferguson, the extra money will help put treatment options at Robert Wood Johnson on equal footing with similar hospitals in New York and Philadelphia. A representative of Robert Wood Johnson Hospital says the funding will allow greater flexibility in utilizing new techniques as they become available through science.