St. Joseph’s Health (SJH) recently celebrated the superior healthcare services provided by their award-winning team of nurses. Maria Brennan, DNP, RN, CPHQ, Chief Nursing Officer, St. Joseph’s Health, and Vice President, Patient Care Services, St. Joseph’s University Medical Center (fourth from right) recognized 33 exemplary nurses from 5 divisions as 2015 Nursing Excellence Award nominees – 3 hold Masters Degrees, 13 are nationally certified and 100% hold Bachelor of Science degrees in Nursing. Ultimately the nominees were narrowed down to 5 award recipients.

Kevin Slavin, President and Chief Executive Officer, SJH (third from left) and Maria Brennan, are pictured with the 2015 SJH Nursing Excellence Award recipients (left to right): Therese Floyd, BSN, RN, CPN, Maternal/Child Division, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital (resident of Warren); Annamma Thekkekara, BSN, RN, Emergency Services, St. Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center (resident of Hawthorne); Angela Beltre, BSN, RN, Peri-Operative Division, St. Joseph’s University Medical Center (SJUMC) (resident of Paterson); Marie Cadet, BSN, RN, Medical/Surgical Division, SJUMC (resident of Maplewood); Kimberly Russo, BSN, CMS RN, FN-CSA, Emergency Department/Critical Care Division, SJUMC (resident of Wayne).

June 29, 2015

St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital would like to thank Girl Scout Troop 70446 of Fair Lawn, NJ, for their donation of over 1,200 toys. The girls’ original goal was to collect 600 toys; their excitement was palpable as they shared with the St. Joseph’s staff that they had exceeded that goal by leaps and bounds. Gabriela Manjarrez, Camryn Bernstein, Mikela Tardio and Erica Travia (pictured left to right) collected toys from Fair Lawn elementary and middle schools to achieve their Silver Award – the highest award earned by a Girl Scout Cadette. 

The St. Joseph’s University Medical Center (SJUMC) Medical Staff office received numerous applications from exceptional candidates for the 2015 Dr. Christine Reyelt Memorial Medical Staff Scholarship. Congratulations to Luis Sifuentes, son of Silvia Sifuentes, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, SJUMC, recipient of the prestigious $3,000 scholarship which is offered annually to a graduating high school student who is a child or legal dependent of a SJUMC employee carrying a 3.0 or above GPA and is planning to pursue a medical career. The Medical Staff would also like to congratulate Andrew Bertollo, son of Robert Bertollo, Academic Affairs Department, Inter-professional Education Division, SJUMC, who received a one-time $2,000 honorary mention scholarship.

Luis, a student at the Paterson Charter School for Science & Technology, will be attending Felician College this fall pursuing a degree in Nursing. Andrew, a student at Kinnelon High School, will be heading to the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland, to pursue a degree in Exercise Science. His goal is to one day assist injured veterans with their physical rehabilitation.

Both recipients were congratulated for their achievements by Emile Doss, MD, President of the Medical Staff, St. Joseph’s Health.

June 3, 2015

Representatives from Aflac New Jersey presented a generous $11,573 check to Kevin Slavin, President and CEO, St. Joseph’s Health (SJH); Michael Lamacchia, MD, Chairman, Pediatrics, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital (SJCH); and Elizabeth Regula, Acting Executive Director, St. Joseph’s University Medical Center (SJUMC) Foundation in Paterson, NJ, to help fund the treatment and research of children’s cancer at SJCH. Russell Burt, Special Projects Coordinator, and Al Shust, State Sales Coordinator, both of Aflac, presented the check along with plush Aflac Ducks for the children in the Hematology/Oncology unit. The check presentation was attended by (l to r) Jill S. Menell, MD, Chief, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, SJCH; Dr. Lamacchia; Elizabeth Regula; Russell Burt; William Copeck, RN, Nurse Manager, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, SJCH; Kevin Slavin; and Al Shust.

May 27, 2015

St. Joseph’s Health’s Marketing and Public Relations Department received both a silver and bronze award in the 2015 Aster Awards competition for marketing materials created in-house. This elite program, one of the largest national competitions of its kind, recognizes outstanding healthcare professionals for excellence in their advertising/marketing efforts for the calendar year 2014.

The Silver Award was awarded to the team’s “self-promotion advertisement” entitled “Powerful Medicine.” The advertisement features beautiful pictures of St. Joseph’s University Medical Center facilities and the catchy slogan, “Revolutionizing healthcare. Revitalizing our community.”

The Bronze Award acknowledged the team’s “magazine advertisement” called “Making Our Home, Your Home.” This advertisement puts emphasis on the spiritual needs of Jewish patients and how St. Joseph’s meets those requests.

“We created these advertisements to inform the community of the amazing things happening here at St. Joseph’s Health,” says Director of Marketing and Public Relations Nancy Collins. “We are very proud of these messages and thrilled to accept these awards.”

The 2015 Aster Awards received nearly 3,000 entries from across the United States as well as several foreign countries. Awards were issued for entries that received top marks from judges placing them in the top 16% of the nation for advertising excellence. Judging criteria included creativity, layout and design, functionality, message effectiveness, production quality and overall appeal. All winners are posted on the Aster Awards website (www.AsterAwards.com), as well as published in Marketing Healthcare Today, a national healthcare marketing magazine.

Chavez for Charity (CfC) co-founders, Julie Marie Chavez and Joe Cerbo, along with several members of their team, paid a visit to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. The Verona-based company, best known for its colored bracelets that support 20 different charities, organized a “Make Your Own Bracelet Day” at the hospital to help raise the spirits of children currently receiving care.

“It’s important that we not only donate money, but that we donate our time as well. So when our social media manager, Sara, came to us with this opportunity, we immediately said let’s do it. As we continue to grow, we will be looking for more ways to be hands on,” says Julie.

The children had a wonderful time making their own bracelets. Many of them wanted to make bracelets for Mother’s Day, while a number of young boys designed bracelets to match the colors of their favorite sports teams.

While several of the children in the intensive care unit were unable to leave their beds to participate, CfC’s staff was allowed to visit each child individually to help them create a bracelet based on their favorite colors.

In addition to the bracelets that were made on-site at St. Joseph’s, Chavez for Charity presented the children with an additional 50 bracelets from their Kids’ Collection. The St. Joseph’s staff that helped coordinate the event were presented with bracelets as well.

St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital is currently participating in a CfC initiative called the 11th Bracelet Project that gives retailers the opportunity to choose a charity they would like to contribute to.

Chavez for Charity has a second visit with St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital scheduled for mid-June. The company intends to host more “Make Your Own Bracelet Day” events at the hospital on a regular basis.

Photo Caption: Chavez for Charity (CfC) co-founder, Julie Marie Chavez helps 12-year-old St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital patient Ana Charlot Reyes Martinez (resident of Paterson) pick out beads for her one of a kind bracelet. The Verona-based company, best known for its colored bracelets that support 20 different charities, organized a “Make Your Own Bracelet Day” at the hospital to help raise the spirits of children currently receiving care.

May 13, 2015