HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH VACCINATES MORE THAN 13,000 FRONTLINE TEAM MEMBERS & PHYSICIANS, INCREASES SCHEDULING CAPACITY

Push is Part of Effort to Achieve 100% Voluntary Participation from Frontline Team Members and Physicians

(January 5, 2021) Edison, NJ – Hackensack Meridian Health, the largest and most integrated health network in New Jersey, has administered COVID-19 vaccinations to more than 13,000 frontline team members and physicians and is now opening scheduling to additional team members and physicians. The move is designed to increase voluntary participation and ensure that the maximum number of team members are vaccinated as quickly as possible.

To instill confidence and ease concerns about getting vaccinated, Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, CEO, Hackensack Meridian Health, received his first dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at Hackensack Meridian Palisades Medical Center. Mr. Garrett later met with Hernan Lopez, a Patient Escort who was one of the first team members to receive the vaccine over two weeks ago and is encouraging other team members and his local community to do the same as soon as it is available.

“I’m proud of Hernan and our more than 13,000 frontline team members that have stepped up and volunteered to get vaccinated, but we still have more work to do here, throughout New Jersey and across the country,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, CEO, Hackensack Meridian Health. “We’re facing a dangerous combination of slower-than-projected vaccine distribution and hesitancy. I got vaccinated to show that it’s safe and effective, and to create a sense of purpose and urgency in the communities we serve. The COVID-19 vaccine is truly our best shot at putting the darkest days of COVID-19 behind us. There is nothing I want more for our frontline team members, physicians and caregivers who have experienced firsthand the devastating impacts of this pandemic.”

# # #

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 36,000 team members, and over 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 opened in 2018, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its third class of students in 2020 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.