Meridian Health Foundation Named Top Nonprofit Organization in New Jersey For Second Consecutive Year

Neptune, NJ – December 1, 2020 – For the second year in a row, Hackensack Meridian – Meridian Health Foundation was recognized by NJBIZ as the top nonprofit organization in New Jersey in the publication’s annual Reader Rankings. Votes were cast by NJBIZ readers for the businesses they believed deserved to be recognized for their industry excellence and contributions in New Jersey.

“It is a tremendous honor to again be selected by the readers of NJBIZ as the top nonprofit organization in New Jersey,” says Joseph E. Stampe, president and chief development officer, Meridian Health Foundation. “The mission of Hackensack Meridian Health is to transform health care and every day, we work to help the organization accomplish those goals by raising vital funding that supports network initiatives, our local hospitals and important community programs and services. To be recognized for these efforts is humbling, particularly given the other phenomenal nonprofits who were also nominated within this category. We are thankful to the readers for their support and belief in our mission.”

Meridian Health Foundation is the umbrella organization overseeing the following Hackensack Meridian Health hospital foundations: Bayshore Medical Center Foundation, Jersey Shore University Medical Center Foundation (also raising funds for K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital), Ocean Medical Center Foundation, Raritan Bay Medical Center Foundation, Riverview Medical Center Foundation and Southern Ocean Medical Center Foundation. It is currently in the final stages of a capital campaign called Giving Heals, with a fundraising goal of $150 million to strengthen oncology services, improve clinical outcomes, enhance the patient experience and broaden clinical research and academic programs at Hackensack Meridian Health medical centers in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties. To date, the campaign, which ends on December 31, 2020, has raised nearly $200 million to purchase new equipment, build new facilities, enhance programs, provide assistance to team members and more.

“Meridian Health Foundation is a wonderful organization made up not only of dedicated and passionate team members, but also a selfless group of more than 100 board members who are committed to enhancing health care within our communities,” says Steve Scopellite, chair, Meridian Health Foundation Board of Trustees. “I’d like to congratulate them on this honor and thank them for their work to help make Meridian Health Foundation the best nonprofit in New Jersey. Congratulations are also in order for Hackensack Meridian Health, and the hospitals and providers also recognized in the NJBIZ Reader Rankings.”

Hackensack Meridian Health was also selected in the following categories:

• Best Healthcare System (ranked number one for the third consecutive year) – Hackensack Meridian Health;

• Best Business Incubator (ranked number one) – Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery & Innovation;

• Best Cardiac Care Center – (listed in the top three) Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center and Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center;

• Best Hospital – (ranked number one) Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center; (ranked in the top three) Hackensack University Medical Center and Jersey Shore University Medical Center; and

• Best Physician Group – (ranked number one for the third consecutive year), Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Group.

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 35,000 team members, and 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 at Seton Hall University opened in 2018, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its second class of 96 students in 2019 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.

###