NJHA Installs Douglas Struyk as 2021 Board Chair
CEO of Christian Health Care Center is 1st Post-Acute Leader to Serve the Role
PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas A. Struyk, President and CEO of Christian Health Care Center in Wyckoff, today was installed as chair of the Board of the New Jersey Hospital Association. In addition to hospitals, NJHA's nearly 400 members span the continuum of healthcare providers; Struyk, whose organization provides senior life, short-term rehab and mental health services, is the first chair in NJHA's history from the post-acute/long-term care and behavioral health communities.
The official installation, as well as the appointment of new Board officers and members, was held during NJHA's 102nd Annual Meeting which was held virtually.
Struyk, a Wayne resident, assumes the role at a pivotal time, with the Association and its members caring for New Jersey residents amid the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, planning for the state's post-pandemic recovery and confronting issues of equity, vulnerable communities and other social challenges that are gripping the nation.
"Last March, we were all momentarily stunned when COVID infiltrated our state," said Struyk in his installation speech today. "None of us had ever experienced a public health crisis on this level. We ourselves were frightened, but our chief responsibility is promoting and ensuring the health and well-being of the people of this great state, and we would not falter because of the pandemic."
Looking to the future, Struyk added, "2021 is the year we will emerge from COVID-19 and navigate the road ahead. The combined impact of the pandemic and the social awakening
surrounding racism and inequity propels us. 2021 will be our time to ACT through Awareness, Change and Transformation."
Struyk succeeds 2020 Board Chair Kevin J. Slavin of Hackettstown, president of St. Joseph's Health, who served a key liaison role with state public health leaders and the healthcare community, while overseeing the response at his own hospital in Paterson which was one of the state's first COVID-19 hotspots.
In her remarks to members, NJHA President and CEO Cathy Bennett discussed 2020's historic public health response and the health, economic and societal challenges ahead.
"The economic uncertainty, the isolation, the competition for care or vaccine when need outpaces supply all weigh heavily on our population," said Bennett. "This moment in history demands the most and the best of us. Healthcare's voice is elevated to a trusted status like never before. Our healthcare system is both the frontline and the backstop in these troubled times."
Under Struyk as board chair, the full slate of NJHA Board officers includes:
- Vice Chair Lori Herndon, of Brigantine, president and CEO of AtlantiCare
- Treasurer Edward J. Condit, of Denville, president and CEO of St. Mary's General Hospital.
- Secretary Bill Arnold, interim president and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and president and CEO, Southern Region, RWJBarnabas Health.
The following healthcare leaders also were appointed as new board members: Robert Holmes Adams of Brielle, president of Hackettstown and Newton Medical Centers, Atlantic Health System; Shereef Elnahal, MD of Summit, president and CEO of University Hospital; Patrick Gavin of Lawrenceville, president and CEO of Hunterdon Healthcare System; Leslie Hirsch of West Berlin, president and CEO of Saint Peter's Healthcare System; Michael McLaughlin of Haddonfield, chairman of the board of Inspira Health; Michael Maron of Oradell, president and CEO of Holy Name Medical Center; and Anthony Scardino, trustee at Hackensack Meridian Health Hospital Corporation.
SOURCE New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA)
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