Last fall, Michael Kaplan, owner of Kaplan Companies, one of the largest regional builders in the state, became ill and was admitted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) in New Brunswick.
As RWJUH began to assess staff fatigue, anxiety and trauma, the multidisciplinary committee, Resilient Together, was created. The committee has since developed a proposal for an accessible, quiet space called respite rooms, where nurses or other staff members could retreat to decompress.
The entire Kaplan family, including Kaplan Companies President Jason Kaplan, Lisa Kaplan and Amy Kaplan-Schafer, were part of an initiative to donate a respite room for staff, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.