Hackensack Meridian Health Welcomes Linda A. McHugh as Chief Experience and People Officer

(April 6, 2021) Edison, NJ – Hackensack Meridian Health is pleased to welcome Linda A. McHugh, M.T., MBA as chief experience and people officer, responsible for the strategic management and delivery of all experience, hospitality and people programs, policies, processes, and practices for the network.

“We’re delighted to have Linda join us in this key executive leadership position,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. “She has an impressive background and concrete understanding of health networks and academic medical centers, bringing expertise in Human Resources transformation, Diversity and Inclusion, Labor Relations, Employee Engagement and Succession Planning.”

Ms. McHugh spent the last 35 years at the Cleveland Clinic, an integrated multi-specialty, international, academic health system with 18 hospitals, 23 family health centers, more than 6,000 staffed beds, 4,200 physicians, and 67,000 employees with operations in Florida, Nevada, Canada, London, China, Abu Dhabi, and United Arab Emirates. As Cleveland Clinic’s chief human Resources officer since 2016, she served as a visionary and transformational leader.

Her previous roles include executive director, Office of the CEO, assistant secretary, Board of Trustees, and regional Division administrator, Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery Affiliates, Regional Surgery.  She also served as an administrator for several departments, including Rehabilitation Medicine and Spine Center, Vascular Surgery and Vascular Medicine and Research Institute Cell Biology and Neuroscience.  Prior to the Cleveland Clinic, Ms. McHugh began her career at Marymount Hospital in Garfield Heights, Ohio.

Ms. McHugh holds a Bachelor of Science in medical technology from Bowling Green University and a Master of Business Administration from the Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management.  A member of the Society of Human Resources Management, she is actively involved with the Health Management Academy and is a former Community Board Member for Cleveland State University and Notre Dame Schools.

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.