NJHA Presents Awards for Commitment to Healthcare

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Several individuals and organizations were honored today at the 94^th Annual Meeting of the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) at the Hyatt Regency Princeton.

NJHA Healthcare Leader Awards
The 2013 Distinguished Service Award was presented to Chester B. Kaletkowski of Mullica Hill, president and CEO of South Jersey Healthcare in Vineland. Kaletkowski was honored for his more than 30 years of service, leadership and commitment.  Among his many accomplishments, Kaletkowski is credited with bringing together a group of community hospitals in Cumberland and Salem counties to form the South Jersey Healthcare system. 

The 2013 NJHA Healthcare Professional of the Year award was presented to E. Hani Mansour, M.D., of Short Hills, medical director of the Burn Center at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in recognition of his dedication and compassion to providing the finest care to burn victims.

Dr. Mansour is credited with providing the oversight and direction which resulted in the Burn Center at Saint Barnabas Medical Center becoming the only state-certified burn treatment facility.

The NJHA Hospital and Healthcare System Trustee of the Year awards were presented to Daniel J. Ragone, CPA, of Haddonfiled from Kennedy Health System in Voorhees and Judith W. Dawkins of Rumson from Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, Barnabas Health.

Ragone was recognized for his more than 35 years of service as a trustee at Kennedy Health System.  His vision, leadership and boundless energy were integral to the growth and progress of the system, and he has played a key role on nearly every committee of both the hospital and system boards.

Dawkins was recognized for her strong and influential leadership as a trustee of both the medical center and foundation Boards.  A strong advocate for the local communities Monmouth serves, Dawkins was instrumental in raising funds to support the expansion of maternity, cancer and pediatric emergency services.

NJHA Excellence in Quality Improvement Awards
NJHA, through its Institute for Quality and Patient Safety, also honored two institutions for Excellence in Quality Improvement, in recognition of healthcare organizations' tremendous advances in quality improvement and patient safety.  The awards were presented to an acute care and post-acute care provider.

The partnership program of UMDNJ-University Correctional Healthcare in Piscataway was honored for, "How to Make Quality Improvement Everyone's Business," which identified the need to improve services and access to New Jersey prison inmates.

The program was an effort to offer quality mental and physical healthcare services that were effective and compassionate, but also accountable and efficient. The keys to the success of the program were identifying where change was needed and then providing the quality improvement training necessary to make those changes.

The results included an increase in patient satisfaction with both medical and mental health services; a decrease in complaints from inmates; a reduction in nursing overtime and a reduction in referrals to the state's forensic hospital due to improvements in discharge planning and enhanced crisis services.

The "Surgical Care Improvement Project" at St. Luke's Hospital - Warren Campus in Phillipsburg addressed four problematic areas occurring in surgical patients.

By following The Joint Commission's key quality measures, the team developed a General Order Surgery Set and increased the number of patients receiving those care measures to 95 percent.  But they were unwilling to stop there, and the team revised its goal to achieve 100 percent compliance on all The Joint Commission's measures, not just the original four. 

Designated nurses now serve as surgical care improvement champions, and the team has increased its efforts to involve and engage physicians and all staff.

HRET Community Outreach Awards
NJHA and its Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey recognize organizations that identify community needs and implement programs to serve those needs. The 2013 awards recognized achievements in the following categories: enhancing access and quality of care to reduce disparities; improving end-of-life care; and preventing disease and injury.

For Enhancing Access and Quality of Care to Reduce Disparities, Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick was recognized for its "Clergy Health Initiative."  In partnership with the Diocese of Metuchen, the Saint Peter's Community Mobile Health Services provided a health fair for priests at their annual retreat, which led to a larger outreach initiative that provided health screenings for individuals in parishes within the Diocese.

Health fair services included flu shots, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index, skin cancer and memory screenings provided by registered nurses. Individual consultations with registered dietitians, pharmacists, financial counselors and physicians also were provided.

More than 300 individuals received health screenings and more than 100 received referrals for follow up. Through the program, 18 priests sought follow-up care at Saint Peter's Department of Medicine.

St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson was recognized for Improving End-of-Life Care through its "AgeWise" program.

Thirty-one staff nurses from three medical-surgical units participated in a 12-week residency program where junior nurses were paired with senior nurses who served as mentors and coaches.  The program used content from the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium, Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders and AgeWise curriculums to help advance their individual practices and their unit's patient care. 

The program's outcomes included improved care of older patients; all nursing units adopting an "End-of-Life Ritual" and a decrease in patient falls.

The Community Outreach award for Preventing Disease and Injury was presented to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for its "Fun in the Park" program addressing childhood obesity, especially among Latino youth.

In partnership with the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids New Brunswick, New Brunswick Tomorrow, the New Brunswick Police Department and a grant from the American Heart Association's Por Tu Corazon Latino initiative, the program used Baker Park to provide a structured environment for kids to increase their physical activity. The program also provided nutritional education so they could make healthier food choices at home.

According to a study conducted by UMDNJ-School of Public Health volunteers, park usage and children's physical activity levels increased on scheduled program days compared to non-program days.

The New Jersey Hospital Association, based in Princeton, is the statewide advocate for its 107-member hospitals, its 300-plus post-acute members and the patients they serve.

SOURCE New Jersey Hospital Association