Jersey Shore Medical Center Among First US Hospitals to Receive Health Care Equity Certification

On Nov 28, 2023

Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) has announced that Jersey Shore University Medical Center is one of the first hospitals in the nation to earn a Health Care Equity Certification from The Joint Commission. The certification indicates HMH’s extensive efforts to address and improve healthcare equity across its network.

“Our team members at HMG are dedicated to providing safe, equitable care to all of our communities. Achieving health equity is one of our network’s top priorities,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, chief executive officer, HMH. “We are honored to have Jersey Shore University Medical Center be recognized as one of the first sites in the nation to complete this important certification from The Joint Commission, and we look forward to continuing to advance health equity for our patients.”

To become certified, The Joint Commission requires health systems to have formalized structures in place to improve health equity across their facilities and serve as community collaborators to address areas of need. Organizations seeking this designation must collect, analyze, and act on data points relating to patient care, patient communication, socioeconomic information, staff education, and policies on various topics, including recruitment and retention.

“The Joint Commission’s Health Care Equity Certification is a testament to our team members’ dedicated commitment each and every day to providing outstanding, compassionate care to all of our patients,” said Kenneth N. Sable, M.D., MBA, FACEP, regional president, HMH’s Southern Market. We look forward to building upon this recognition to continue enhancing patient care for all.”

“New Jersey is one of the nation’s most diverse states, and this certification validates our long-standing efforts to eliminate health disparities and elevate the standard of care,” said Vito Buccellato, chief hospital executive at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

In August, HMH’s Hackensack University Medical Center became the first hospital in the U.S. to earn the Health Care Equity Certification from the Joint Commission.

“Our commitment to fostering an environment rooted in equity is at the forefront of what we do at Hackensack Meridian Health,” said Avonia Richardson-Miller, EdD, MA, CDE, senior vice president and Chief Diversity Officer at HMH. “We are incredibly proud of the work we’ve done to make our hospitals more inclusive for our patients and team members, and we will continue to build initiatives that support and represent all communities we serve.”

Jersey Shore University Medical Center underwent a rigorous onsite review to receive the certification. During the visit, a team of Joint Commission surveyors evaluated over 40 program-specific standards and a range of data points, including the following:

• Three quality and/or safety measures for priority clinical conditions by sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., cardiovascular outcomes, cesarean birth rates for nulliparous women with term, singleton baby in vertex position [NTSV], hospital-acquired conditions, pressure injury rates, etc.)
• Comparison of the race, ethnicity, and languages spoken by staff and leaders to the race, ethnicity, and languages spoken by the community
• Employee opinion survey/culture of safety survey results stratified by race, ethnicity, and language information
  Health Care Equity performance improvement plan

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