MDNews - Central New Jersey

M D N E W S . CO M ■ MD NEWS Central New Jersey | 1 5 Governor Chris Christie; A. Gabriel Esteban, PhD, President, Seton Hall University; Robert C. Garrett, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hackensack University Health Network; Congressman William Pascrell, Ninth Congressional District of New Jersey; and Thomas Lyon, Vice President and Site Head, Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. physicians in the Garden State. HackensackUHN and SHU's joint venture will help combat the physician shortage by providing key educational, research and career opportunities that will incentivize the next generation to pursue a career in medicine. Hackensack University Medical Center (HackensackUMC) announced that it has received the 2015 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence for the 13th consecutive year, according to Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. No other hospital in New Jersey, New York or New England has achieved this feat. This distinction places HackensackUMC in the top five percent of the more than 4,500 hospitals evaluated nationwide based solely on outstanding clinical performance. The 261 recipients of the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence stand out among the rest for their overall clinical excellence across a broad spectrum of care. During the 2015 study period (2011-2013), these hospitals demonstrated superior clinical outcomes — as measured by objective clinical outcomes performance data (risk-adjusted mortality and in- hospital complications) — across at least 21 of the most common inpatient conditions and procedures performed on patients receiving Medicare. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey named six New Jersey healthcare facilities as part of the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program. Hackensack University Medical Center is one of the facilities designated as a Blue Distinction Center for delivering quality care resulting in better overall outcomes for bariatric patients. To receive Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery designation, a healthcare facility must demonstrate success in meeting patient safety and bariatric-specific quality measures, including complications and readmissions, for gastric stapling and/or gastric banding procedures. A healthcare facility must also have earned national accreditations at both the facility level and the bariatric care-specific level. Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality providers for specialty care needs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacement, spine surgery, and transplant. Hackensack University Medical Center is pleased to announce a new high-tech approach to enhancing patient health and safety. HackensackUMC is employing the germ-zapping Xenex robot to further reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections. Using a powerful ultraviolet light, the Xenex robot is designed to destroy viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores lingering on surfaces. According to Xenex, the robot has been proven to be 20 times more effective than traditional cleaning methods for killing dangerous pathogens. The robot, named Violet by HackensackUMC's Environmental Services team, emits ultraviolet light designed to destroy viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores on surfaces within minutes. ■

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