Hackensack Meridian Health Announces Regional Market and Care Transformation Services Structure

Hackensack Meridian Health has announced today that it is implementing a new organizational structure to better align its services and improve the overall experience for patients across its 16 hospitals and 500 patient care locations throughout New Jersey.

“To accelerate our ability to improve quality, access, affordability and the patient experience, we are creating regional markets and a care transformation services structure across our network,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. “This new structure will consist of three markets and an integrated clinical transformation service that will help to align all of our services around the patient to ensure better coordination and outcomes.”

Leading the three markets will be:

Ihor S. Sawczuk, M.D., formerly president of Hackensack University Medical Center. Sawczuk will be the president of Hackensack Meridian Health’s north market. Mark Sparta, formerly Hackensack University Medical Center chief operating officer, will serve as the new hospital executive. Also included in the north market are Palisades Medical Center, Pascack Valley Medical Center and Mountainside Medical Center.

Ray Fredericks, formerly president of JFK Medical Center, will serve as the president of Hackensack Meridian Health’s central market. Scott Gebhard is the new hospital executive for JFK Medical Center. Also included in the central market are Raritan Bay Medical Center-Perth Amboy and Old Bridge, Bayshore Medical Center and Riverview Medical Center.

Kenneth N. Sable, M.D., formerly president of Jersey Shore University Medical Center, will serve as the president of Hackensack Meridian Health’s south region. Andrew Smithson is the new hospital executive for Jersey Shore University Medical Center. Also included in the south region are Ocean Medical Center and Southern Ocean Medical Center.

To accelerate transformation in the way care is delivered across the expansive network, Tim Hogan, formerly president of Bayshore and Riverview Medical Centers, has been appointed president of Care Transformation Services. Dean Lin, formerly regional president of Ocean and Southern Ocean Medical Center, has been appointed president of Care Transformation Services and Physician Practices. Hogan and Lin will lead Hackensack Meridian Health’s Care Transformation Services, some of which include oncology, cardiovascular, neurosciences, and pediatrics.

Hackensack Meridian Health and Carrier Clinic signed a definitive agreement to merge in July 2018. Once Carrier Clinic joins Hackensack Meridian Health, Don Parker will remain as president of Carrier and will become the third president of Care Transformation Services with oversight of behavioral health for the network.

“Hackensack Meridian Health is well positioned for the future, and we are confident that this new structure and these leaders will ensure we continue to provide quality and cost efficient care, and keep the patient experience at the center of everything we do,” added Garrett.

ABOUT HACKENSACKMERIDIAN 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 16 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 - Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, and Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has nearly 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 33,000 team members, and 6,500 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 one of only five major academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more consecutive years, four hospitals among the top 10 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, recipient of the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality from The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum, a six-time recipient of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” one of the “20 Best Workplaces in Health Care” in the nation, and the number one “Best Place to Work for Women.” The network was also named to Becker’s Healthcare’s “150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2018” list.

The network’s notable distinctions include having one of only five major academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more consecutive years, four hospitals among the top 10 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, recipient of the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality from The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum, a six-time recipient of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” one of the “20 Best Workplaces in Health Care” in the nation, and the number one “Best Place to Work for Women.” The network was also named to Becker’s Healthcare’s “150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2018” list.

Hackensack Meridian Health partnered with Seton Hall University to launch the first private medical school in New Jersey – Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University - in more than 50 years to address a growing shortage of physicians and dramatic changes in health care delivery. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer 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 and Carrier Clinic, New Jersey’s oldest and most respected behavioral health provider, signed a definitive agreement to merge.

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.