Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation Supports Ocean Medical Center’s New Residency Program

Hackensack Meridian Health Ocean Medical Center Foundation is pleased to announce a $1 million commitment from the Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation of Toms River to support the hospital’s new Graduate Medical Education (GME) program. Ocean Medical Center recently announced that it received initial accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for residency training programs in family medicine and psychiatry - practice areas in which there are serious shortages of physicians expected in New Jersey and the nation, and the Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation is the first to dedicate funding towards its success.

“Although the population in Ocean and Monmouth Counties continues to grow, there aren’t enough physicians to provide the quality of care that’s needed,” said Jeremy Grunin, president of the Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation. “Supporting the residency program and helping to attract the next generation of health care providers to our community is really exciting, not only for enhancing care, but growing the local economy, and we are honored to be a part of this initiative.”

Now accredited to offer residencies in family medicine and psychiatry, Ocean Medical Center has received significant interest from medical students across the country. The GME team received approximately 2,800 applications and is currently preparing for the inaugural class of 14 residents. As the program expands to full scale, it will be able to accommodate more than 60 residents at a time. Ocean Medical Center expects approval for an additional residency program in internal medicine in the spring of 2018.

“With these residency programs, Ocean Medical Center will become a premier community teaching hospital,’’ said Dean Q. Lin, MHA, MBA, FACHE, FCPP, regional president of Hackensack Meridian Health and president of Ocean Medical Center. “We are truly grateful for the Grunin Foundation’s philanthropic support of GME at Ocean medical Center. Their generosity will make a positive impact on the community for years to come.”

The Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation’s mission is to use philanthropy to increase community involvement and economic development opportunities through the arts, health care and education. “We are extremely fortunate that the Grunins have committed to supporting this medical residency program in Brick,” explains Robert Harms, chair of Ocean Medical Center Foundation.

"The Grunins have tremendous experience in health care, having been closely involved with other local health care organizations for years. By expanding their philanthropy through investing in GME at Ocean Medical Center, they are fulfilling two core components of their mission: enhancing health care and education while driving economic development in the local community.”

Eight residents will be selected from more than 1,900 applicants for the family medicine program, which is a three-year training program. Six residents will be selected from more than 975 applicants for the psychiatry program, which is a four-year training program.

For more information about how you can support Ocean Medical Center’s GME program, please contact Matthew D. Lang, CFRE, executive director of Ocean Medical Center Foundation at matthew.lang@hmhn.org or 732-751-5116. For more information about the GME program, visit OceanMedicalCenter.com/GME.

ABOUT THE JAY AND LINDA GRUNIN FOUNDATION

The Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation is a private family philanthropic foundation based in Toms River, NJ. The Foundation’s aim is to make the Central Jersey Shore the regional template for quality of life and strong economic health through root-cause focused investment in healthcare, education and the arts. The Foundation is a proactive grantmaker that identifies and invests in organizations which will help the foundation attain its various programmatic goals. The aim is to collaborate with and invest in innovative projects that have measurable impact and create meaningful, transformative change in the local community.

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH OCEAN MEDICAL CENTER

Ocean Medical Center, serving southern Monmouth and Ocean counties, is ranked #8 in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report for two consecutive years. The medical center also features a satellite Emergency Care Center in Point Pleasant, the Ocean Care Center, and hospital-based programs at Jackson Health Village.

In addition to its high ranking in U.S News and World Report, Ocean Medical Center has achieved a host of certifications and awards: advanced levels of certification with The Joint Commission for joint replacement, palliative care and stroke (Primary Stroke Center that offers a state-of-the art brain lab and neurological surgery); a designated center of excellence by the American College of Radiology; Magnet award winning nurses; 2017 Get with the Guidelines continuous quality improvement awards including: Heart Failure Gold Plus Award, Stroke Gold Plus and Stroke Honor Roll Elite Awards and Action Registry Platinum Award; Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award for one of the highest levels of team member engagement in the nation; and an “A” grade from the LeapFrog Group’s Hospital Safety Score initiative.

The medical center has made significant investments in programs and services. In 2014, Ocean Medical Center opened a state-of-the-art Emergency Department that provides the highest level of care and comfort in a tranquil setting. In 2016, a new comprehensive Cancer Center that provides the latest radiation therapy technologies was revealed. In 2017, the final phase of the $82 million expansion project concluded with the opening of an innovative medical surgical floor with 36 private patient beds that was uniquely designed to bring humanity back to health care. Future developments include the launch of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved residency programs in family medicine and psychiatry in 2018.

Other key services include: DaT Scan and advanced imaging technology; DaVinci robotic surgery; general, thoracic, and vascular surgery; one of the region’s most advanced cardiac catheterization laboratories and cardiac services; maternity, acute care of the elderly and critical care services.

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the 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; 11 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, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has more than 160 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, and urgent care and after-hours centers. 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, including Hackensack University Medical Center which is ranked No. 1 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." 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.