Newswise — December 20, 2019 – Brick, NJ – The Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs at Hackensack Meridian Health southern region hospitals were recognized by the New Jersey Department of Health for their dedication to antimicrobial stewardship at the New Jersey Antimicrobial Stewardship Collaborative Annual Conference Thursday, December 5. The 2019 Gold Steward, the highest level an organization can achieve, was awarded to Ocean Medical Center and Southern Ocean Medical Center. Jersey Shore University Medical Center was awarded Bronze Steward status. Less than 25 N.J. hospitals achieved recognition.

The hospitals’ antimicrobial teams promote the appropriate use of antimicrobials, chemical agents used to inhibit bacteria, to improve patient safety, reduce microbial resistance and decrease the spread of infections caused by multidrug resistant organisms. “We are proud of our work to establish leading edge Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in the fight against antimicrobial resistance,” said Kenneth N. Sable, M.D., MBA, FACEP, regional president, southern market, Hackensack Meridian Health.   “These recognitions demonstrate our dedication to provide high quality, safe care to our patients and paves the way for similar innovative programs that improve patient outcomes and experience.”

 The Antimicrobial Stewardship Recognition Program acknowledges health care facilities and physician practices that demonstrate, through written documentation, they have met or exceeded minimum expectations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Core Elements of Antimicrobial Stewardship. The N.J. Antimicrobial Stewardship Recognition Awards, launched this year, is a voluntary, incentive program that encourages health care facilities to assess how well they are applying the CDC’s core elements, a set of key principles to guide efforts to improve antibiotic use, advance patient safety and improve outcomes. Based on the level of difficulty of stewardship programs’ interventions, hospitals are awarded either the Gold, Silver or Bronze Antimicrobial Stewardship status.  

 

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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 34,100 team members, and 6,500 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 10 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/2018” list.

The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 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.