Hackensack Meridian Health Marks Five Years of Delivering Better, Stronger & More Integrated Health Care to All New Jerseyans

- Unparalleled capabilities are reimagining care delivery for patients and playing a major role in the COVID-19 pandemic

- Achievements in medical education, behavioral health care, cancer care and innovation and research position the network at the forefront of healthcare transformation

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Hackensack Meridian Health

Jul 01, 2021, 13:43 ET

EDISON, N.J., July 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hackensack Meridian Health today marked its five year anniversary as the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey. Its complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care continue to differentiate Hackensack Meridian Health locally and nationally, and put patients at the center of health care like never before.

"We are delivering on our promise to transform health care delivery through innovation, technology and education," said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. "Thanks to our world-class team members, we have made extraordinary progress in making healthcare more affordable, accessible and convenient for the communities we serve."

"The merger facilitated significant advancements in innovation, technology, and education. From the launch of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, to the merger with Carrier Clinic, to the opening of the Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) – the network has tirelessly focused on transforming health care and served millions throughout New Jersey."

Hackensack Meridian Health by the Numbers (2017 - 2020)

Admissions: 711,222
Births: 69,553
Emergency Visits: 2.5 million
Outpatient Visits: 7.5 million
Community Contributions: $2 billion
Uncompensated Care: nearly $1 billion

Hackensack Meridian Health has played a major role in the COVID-19 pandemic, including treating more patients than any network in New Jersey and developing major breakthroughs – including the state's first rapid COVID test, reducing wait time from days to a just a few hours and developing a dozen clinical trials for COVID therapies and vaccines. The network also created a rapid COVID variant test to more effectively treat patients and better track the virus, an advance that greatly aided the New Jersey Health Department. The network also operated New Jersey's largest COVID-19 mega site at the former Meadowlands Racetrack, vaccinating nearly 5,000 people daily at its peak.

"We are proud of what we have accomplished to date, but we recognize there is much more work to be done. Together, we will continue to deliver the most innovative and compassionate care for our communities, now and for decades to come," Garrett added.

"We are deeply committed to providing the highest quality care that is convenient, accessible and affordable. We will continue on our mission to transform health care in New Jersey and beyond for our patients today and for future generations,'' said Frank Fekete, chair of the Hackensack Meridian Health Board of Trustees.

Some of the other key moments since the formation of Hackensack Meridian Health in 2016 include:

In March 2016, Hackensack Meridian Health announced that Palisades Medical Center has become its fourth hospital in the northern region.
In December 2016, Hackensack Meridian Health partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering to boldly change the face of cancer in New Jersey and beyond.
In May 2017, Hackensack Meridian Health and St. Joseph's Healthcare System announced the formation of Visiting Health Services, a jointly owned home health services and hospice services agency.
In August 2017 Hackensack Meridian Health partnered with the New Jersey Innovation Institute to open the Bear's Den, an incubator for innovative ideas with a $25 million investment. The Bear's Den brings together engineers, scientists, health care experts and others to launch innovations to improve health care delivery.
Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center chosen Among 25 Best Places to Work by Indeed Best Places to Work list 2017.
In September 2017, Ocean Medical Center opened an innovative 36 private bed medical surgical floor that integrates technology and design to transform the patient experience.
In January 2018, Hackensack Meridian Health welcomes JFK Health, a leading hospital system that is nationally recognized for its pediatric and adult neuroscience and rehabilitation programs.
In June 2018, HOPE Tower at Jersey Shore University Medical Center opens its doors – a 10-story, 300,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that features a world-class cancer treatment center, modern clinical offices for pediatric and adult specialties, and high-tech academic and research space, creating a groundbreaking outpatient facility that focuses on all aspects of health and wellness.
In June 2018, Ocean Medical Center officially became a community-based teaching hospital with the launch of its inaugural class of family medicine and psychiatry residents delivering on a promise to transform medical education and train the physicians of tomorrow.
July 2018, Jersey Shore University Medical Center is the first hospital in New Jersey to use Radicava to treat ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease through its ALS Center.
In July 2018, the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine welcomed its first class of medical students. The School of Medicine's innovative approach brings a new era of medicine to the State of New Jersey.
In January 2019, Hackensack Meridian Health welcomed Carrier Clinic®, a leader in behavioral health with a 100-year history in New Jersey, writing a new narrative for the treatment of mental illness and substance use disorder.
In March 2019, life-saving, miracle surgery performed by a pediatric neurosurgeon on a three-day—old infant and for the first time in history a child survived after being born with half his skull missing.
In May 2019, the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) officially opens, a state-of-the art facility which offers world renowned researchers the support to develop novel therapies for some of the world's most difficult diseases – cancer, diabetes, dementia, antibiotic-resistant infection and auto-immune disorders.
In May 2019, John Theurer Cancer Center receives National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation as a member of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Consortium.
In March 2019, Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center becomes the first hospital in New Jersey, and second in the nation, to become a Magnet-recognized hospital for nursing excellence; receiving its sixth consecutive designation in 2019.
In June 2019, the cancer program of the two Children's Hospitals that make up Hackensack Meridian a Children's Health received for the first time Top 50 ranking in the annual U. S. News Best Children's Hospitals Report.
August 2019, Jersey Shore University Medical Center opens Monmouth & Ocean counties first comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Center.
September 2019, clinical affiliation announced with St. Joseph's Health to deliver innovative, high-quality and cost-effective care.
July 2020, Hackensack Meridian Health opens New Jersey's first COVID Recovery Center, also one of the nation's first.
September 2020, Hackensack Meridian Health launches the Keeping America Safe program for COVID-19 recovery.
February 2021, Hackensack Meridian Health opens the Retreat & Recovery at Ramapo Valley, a new outpatient addiction treatment center.

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH
Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care.

Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals – Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital – Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 36,000 team members, and over 7,000 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The network's notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker's Healthcare's "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019" list.

The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine opened in 2018, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its third class of students in 2020 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it.

Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.

SOURCE Hackensack Meridian Health