Hackensack Meridian Health announced the formation of Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation.
The newly created foundation will serve as the parent organization for the network’s 10 community-based hospital foundations.
In addition to raising funds for the network’s local medical centers, Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation will also focus on network-wide priorities such as behavioral health, children’s health, the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery & Innovation and the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, according to information provided by Hackensack Meridian Health.
“The establishment of one network-wide philanthropic entity has been a goal for a long time,” Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health, said in the statement. “Our local hospital foundations, led by strong boards of trustees, do a tremendous job of fundraising for their local medical centers. In addition, there are important priorities that we need to address at a broader level that will ultimately benefit our community hospitals and patients. Take, for example, behavioral health. Funding on a larger scale helps us to create the additional programs and facilities needed to address a growing health crisis, and those extra resources have the added benefit of freeing up space and caregiver expertise in the emergency departments, which is good on a local level.”
Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation is led by president and chief development officer Joyce P. Hendricks, along with a board of trustees co-chaired by Keith Banks and Domenic DiPiero. The trustees consist of members from each hospital foundation board, ensuring local hospital representation as they work to broadly raise funds for Hackensack Meridian Health.
All hospital foundations will continue to operate locally, raising money for the hospitals, programs and services that mean the most to supporters in those areas.
“We are so fortunate to have dedicated trustees who will work as ambassadors on behalf of the network at all levels,” Hendricks said in the statement. “It is vital that a leading health care organization such as Hackensack Meridian Health has a foundation that matches its ambitious goals and is able to secure the funding necessary to help the network fulfill its mission to transform health care. However, it is equally important that we continue to support our local hospitals, and all gifts made to those important community hospitals will be directed as donors intend and remain with the facility or program of their choosing. I am confident that with the creation of Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation, we are well poised to make a real difference for the network, and most importantly, our patients.”
In addition to fundraising for Hackensack Meridian Health priorities, the establishment of Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation will deliver cost savings through the centralization of operations and office space. This will help to reduce expenses and enable the foundation to transfer additional funds directly to programs and services, according to the statement.
In a joint statement, foundation co-chairs Banks and DiPiero said, “It is an honor to serve as co-chairs of this very important endeavor. We firmly believe that the merger of our foundations in the north, central and southern markets of Hackensack Meridian Health will create a halo effect that will envelop and enhance health care for our communities. Together with our dedicated board of trustees, we will actively seek out philanthropic opportunities that will make Hackensack Meridian Health the health care organization of choice for the residents of New Jersey and beyond.”
To support the foundations of Hackensack Meridian Health, please visit www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/give-now/.