Little Hats Big Hearts Program Promotes Heart Health and Melts Hearts

February 22, 2019 ? Edison, NJ ? Hackensack Meridian Health is pleased to participate in the Little Hats Big Hearts program, a collaborate initiative involving the American Heart Association and the Children’s Heart Foundation, during American Heart Month.

Babies born at Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals in February receive handmade red baby hats, along with heart health information kits from the American Heart Association, in order to raise awareness of congenital heart defects and promote family heart health.

“This is an ideal way to encourage families to be proactive about good cardiac health and overall well-being from the very beginning,” said Robert C. Garrett, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. “The tiny red hats serve as an important - and adorable - reminder.”

By participating in this program, Hackensack Meridian Health is helping to promote greater awareness of congenital heart defects, overall heart health, and mindful healthy living for the health network’s youngest patients, their families, and the community.

Described as a close-knit initiative, the American Heart Association engages volunteers from across the U.S. in knitting and crocheting red hats for babies, symbolizing a shared mission to support heart-healthy lives.

Last year, more than 200,000 hats were created for distribution.

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 include 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 34,100 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 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 and being named to Becker’s Healthcare’s “150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2018” list.

The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 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.