Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) is a

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

providers in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, based out of Edison. Members include academic centers, acute care facilities, and research hospitals. Hackensack Meridian Health's goal is to create one integrated network that changes how healthcare is delivered in New Jersey. The HMH network was formed in 2016 by a merger between

Hackensack University Medical Center Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) is a 781-bed non-profit, research and teaching hospital providing tertiary and healthcare needs located seven miles (11 km) west of New York City, in Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey. As of 2 ...

and Meridian Health. Hackensack Meridian Health is affiliated with the

Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM) is a private medical school in Nutley, New Jersey. When it opened in 2015, it was the first private medical school in New Jersey to open in decades. Originally affiliated with Seton Hall University, ...

and maintains active teaching programs at its hospitals. After the acquisition of JFK Medical Center in Edison, HMH is now the largest healthcare provider in New Jersey.

About

As of November 2021, HMH operates 17 hospitals, 36,000 team members and more than 500 other facilities including ambulatory care centers, fitness and wellness centers, home health services, rehab centers, and skilled nursing centers spanning from Bergen to Atlantic counties. In Fall 2021, seven of its affiliate hospitals received an A grade from Hospital Safety Grade. It runs 10 clinics at

Rite Aid Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. The company ranked No. 148 in the Fortune 500 lis ...

outlets in New Jersey to treat minor health issues and make primary care physicians available for more serious conditions and urgent care needs. In 2021, '' U.S. News & World Report'' listed five of the hospitals in the HMH network as "best ranked" in New Jersey.

Technology

HMH has in 2021 become one of the first hospital organizations to completely switch its computing hardware to

ChromeOS ChromeOS, sometimes stylized as chromeOS and formerly styled as Chrome OS, is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google. It is derived from the open-source ChromiumOS and uses the Google Chrome web browser as its principal user interfac ...

devices and employ

Google Cloud Google Cloud Platform offers numerous integrated cloud-computing services, including compute, network, and storage. Products Past and present products under the Google Cloud platform include: Current * Google Cloud Datastore, a NoSQL databa ...

to increase

cyber security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

and deploy

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

and healthcare

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

to expedite diagnostic decisions and assist with clinical treatments. Artificial intelligence will reportedly assist on newborn screening, mammography screening, prostate cancer screening,

sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

detection and

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

detection. The increased cyber security of its newly adopted platform responds to a

ransomware Ransomware is a type of malware from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim's personal data or permanently block access to it unless a ransom is paid off. While some simple ransomware may lock the system without damaging any files, ...

attack on December 2, 2019, that compromised computer systems and forced administrators to cancel roughly 100 elective medical procedures. The attack lasted for five days and "affected anything with computer software." Administrators chose to pay the ransom of an undisclosed amount and released a statement on December 13 saying, "We believe it’s our obligation to protect our communities' access to health care."

COVID-19 response

In 2021, the HMH network was awarded more than $100 million in funds for

FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

for emergency relief and treated more than 10,000 patients. After the CDC approved the

Pfizer vaccine Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

for children ages 5–11, the first vaccines administered to that age group were at HMH's

Jersey Shore University Medical Center Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) is a 691-bed non-profit, tertiary research and academic medical center located in Neptune Township, New Jersey, servicing coastal New Jersey and the Central Jersey area. JSUMC is the region’s only ...

. HMH mandated that every of its employees be fully vaccinated by November 15, 2021. Though 70% of all health workers were vaccinated by July, 2021, there was resistance among staff partially due to concerns over vaccination causing sterility.

Philanthropy

New York Giants

HMH and the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

work together on various projects for health education, disease prevention, clinical research and philanthropic opportunities. In 2021, the

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. Opened in 2010 to replace Giants Stadium, it serves as the home for the New York Giants an ...

Legacy Club was renamed the Hackensack Meridian Health Legacy Club at MetLife Stadium. The naming rights were formerly held by

New York-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...

, a former sponsor. Also in 2021,

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...

, a retired player for the Giants, joined HMH’s board of trustees.

HMH Foundation

The HMH Foundation was established to oversee and make organize 10 separate, localized hospital foundations in its network. Substantial gifts in 2021 are earmarked by the donors for cardiac treatment research, COVID-19 PPE supplies, and discretionary use in meeting the HMH stated mission. An initiative of the foundation is Tackle Kids' Cancer, with funds raised for the HMH network's Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Mergers and acquisitions

In November 2006, Hackensack University Medical Center entered into a memorandum of understanding with

Pascack Valley Hospital Pascack Valley Hospital (PVH) is a former 291-bed hospital, located at 250 Old Hook Road, Westwood, New Jersey. History Pascack Valley Hospital opened on June 1, 1959, as an 86-bed community hospital. It underwent several expansions and grew to ...

(PVH), located in Westwood, to possibly acquire the hospital from Well Care Group, Inc. On October 1, 2008,

Hackensack University Medical Center North at Pascack Valley Pascack Valley Medical Center formerly known as Hackensack University Medical Center at Pascack Valley is a full-service boutique hospital located in Westwood, New Jersey, at the site of the former Pascack Valley Hospital. Owned 35% by Hackensack ...

opened as "a satellite emergency department to treat non-life-threatening emergencies." It was ultimately converted in 2013 to a full-service hospital together with for-profit partner LHP Hospital Group (now

Ardent Health Services Ardent Health Services, formerly known as Behavioral Healthcare Corporation is a healthcare company based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. History The Behavioral Healthcare Corporation was founded in 1993 by dward Stack Until 2001, it ...

) . On September 9, 2020, HMH announced a ten-year partnership with American Dream in

East Rutherford East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

. The partnership includes opening a

urgent care center An urgent care center (UCC), also known as an urgent treatment centre in the United Kingdom, is a type of walk-in clinic focused on the delivery of urgent ambulatory care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional emergency department ...

at the complex, helping the complex reopen during the

COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey The COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. state of New Jersey with the first confirmed case occurring in Bergen County on March 2, 2020, and testing positive on March 4. , 1.63 million cases were confirmed in the state, incurring 26,795 deaths. On ...

, and having pop-up events at American Dream about health and wellness. In September, 2014 HMH signed a letter of intent with administrators from

Raritan Bay Medical Center Raritan Bay Medical Center (RBMC) consists of two general acute care hospitals, located within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, servicing the Raritan Bayshore communities in Middlesex and Monmouth counties. The hospitals are located in O ...

(RBMC) to explore options for a merger. At that time, RBMC was facing increased financial pressure. On January 1, 2016 the merger was completed. On May 12, 2015 HMH and Hackensack University Medical Center signed a definitive agreement to merge pending regulatory approval. The merger finalized in 2016. On January 3, 2019 HMH finalized a merger with

Carrier Clinic Carrier Clinic is an American private, not-for-profit behavioral healthcare system located in Belle Mead, New Jersey specializing in psychiatric and addiction treatment. Carrier's system includes a 281 licensed bed inpatient psychiatric hospital ...

, a psychiatric healthcare provider. Plans for the merger established

behavioral health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

urgent care centers throughout New Jersey and set up tele-psychiatry services. HMH also promised to invest $25 million in the Belle Mead campus for upgraded infrastructure, technology and expansion of services provided. On October 15, 2019 HMH announced a merger with Englewood Health, a healthcare provider in Bergen County. HMH agreed to invest $400 million into the facility. As of 2021, the merger is currently pending approval from the Federal Trade Commission and New Jersey state officials. The investment included new operating rooms, additional outpatient care facilities and larger cardiac catheterization labs. The affiliation also included an expanded academic partnership with the

. The merger enabled Englewood to become a tertiary academic medical center. In December 2020, it was announced that the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

would be suing HMH to block the merger due to monopolistic practices.

List of hospitals

References

External links

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Annual reports
{{authority control Healthcare in New Jersey Edison, New Jersey Companies based in Middlesex County, New Jersey Hospital networks in the United States Health care companies based in New Jersey