The Monmouth County Division on Aging, Disabilities and Veterans Services, Area Agency on Aging/Aging and Disability Resource Connection (AAA/ADRC), recently received recognition from the New Jersey Division of Aging Services, Office of Area Agency on Aging Administration, for its efforts to help seniors during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the annual programmatic and fiscal assessment of the Monmouth County AAA/ADRC, the state highlighted all of the ways the division provided “exemplary service” to Monmouth County seniors, according to a press release from the county.
The assessment noted that the Monmouth County AAA/ADRC organized meeting with senior center directors to discuss best practices to reach frail seniors and to process challenges and concerns about their individual senior centers and share best practices.
The Monmouth County AAA/ADRC also worked with the Monmouth County Health Department to register seniors and health-compromised residents for COVID-19 vaccines, prepared more than 500 Go Bags to distribute and created the Monmouth County COVID-19 Resource Guide.
“The Monmouth County COVID-19 Resource Guide provided information on emergency food delivery services, pharmacy services, caregiver services, behavioral health services and resources at the local, state and federal levels for seniors and all Monmouth County residents,” Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners Deputy Director Sue Kiley said.
The assessment closed by commending the AAA/ADRC and its providers for the exemplary service to Monmouth County seniors during the pandemic, according to the press release.
On Jan. 24, HBO Max will start streaming a new series, “The Gilded Age.” The show will feature the character of T. Thomas Fortune, played by actor Sullivan Jones.
The show takes place in New York in 1882 during the American Gilded Age, a time of economic change and conflict between the old world and the new world, according to a press release.
Jones, who visited the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center in Red Bank during the spring after accepting the role, learned the history of Fortune, who was born into slavery in 1856 in Florida and made a name for himself as a journalist and newspaper publisher during the Gilded Age in New York, where his newspapers, the New York Globe, Freeman and the New York Age, were published, according to the press release.
Jones learned about Fortune, who started the first successful black political organization in 1887, the National Afro-American League, a precursor to the NAACP. The actor spoke with Lynn Humphrey, who is the cultural center’s archivist.
Fortune and his family lived in Red Bank from 1901-10.
“The Gilded Age” will also feature Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon and Meryl Streep’s youngest daughter, Louisa Jacobson. The T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center will host a watch party on Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. at the Cultural Center.
For more information, visit https://www.tthomasfortuneculturalcenter.org/fortune-on-hbo
A bill that would create a permanent state firefighter museum and memorial has advanced to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk for his consideration to sign into law.
Assemblyman Ron Dancer (R-Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, Burlington) said his bill would establish a permanent New Jersey museum and memorial honoring the history and sacrifice of firefighters. The bill has been passed in the state Assembly and Senate, according to a Dec. 20 press release from Dancer.
The bill (A5075/S4001) removes the New Jersey Fire Museum from New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection oversight and creates an independent commission to take over those responsibilities, according to the press release.
Since 2015, the fire museum has displayed its donated memorabilia in a private warehouse provided by Upper Freehold Township. The state has been unsuccessful at obtaining funding or finding a permanent location for the museum for 50 years, according to the press release.
“A commission that is committed to New Jersey’s firefighting history will be in a better position to procure a stable home for the museum, which will provide more opportunities to engage and educate the public,” Dancer said. “From preserving historic fire equipment to honoring our fallen heroes, the museum serves an important mission and deserves a dedicated space.”
Under the bill, the museum and memorial will have the ability to manage its own affairs by adopting rules for its governance, using state offices and hiring staff, and entering into state contracts for the museum and its projects. The commission can address budgeting issues and oversee the museum’s expansion and development.
The bill appropriates $200,000 to help fund the museum and its projects, according to the press release.
The New Jersey Department of Health has licensed Hackensack Meridian Bayshore Medical Center, Holmdel, to provide elective angioplasty, a scheduled procedure cardiologists use to open clogged coronary arteries, with stents, in patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease.
This minimally invasive treatment restores blood supply to the heart muscle and helps prevent heart attack, heart failure and other forms of heart disease, according to a press release.
For many years Bayshore has provided emergency angioplasty for patients experiencing a heart attack and cardiac catheterization procedures to diagnose heart disease. This additional licensure enables cardiologists to perform diagnostic testing and if needed, necessary treatment during one visit, according to the press release.
For more information, visit www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/services/cardiovascular/
Legislation sponsored by state Assembly members Joann Downey and Eric Houghtaling (both D-Monmouth) that will improve the accessibility and affordability of healthcare delivered remotely was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy on Dec. 21.
The law will provide expanded coverage for telemedicine and telehealth services, according to a press release from the New Jersey Assembly Democrats.
Specifically, the law will require carriers offering health benefit plans in New Jersey, the State Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare programs, the State Health Benefits Program and the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program to reimburse providers for all forms of healthcare services delivered via telehealth or telemedicine at a provider reimbursement rate that does not exceed the rate for equivalent in-person care, so long as the services are otherwise covered under the plan when delivered in person, according to the press release.
Current law provides that telemedicine and telehealth services may be reimbursed up to the amount at which in-person service is reimbursed. The new law will ensure the reimbursement rate does not exceed the rate for in-person services in most circumstances, according to the press release.
The law will also prohibit health plans from limiting where care can originate from when provided via telehealth/telemedicine, or limiting where the patient is located when receiving these services. It will also prevent carriers from restricting the use of electronic or technological platforms if services meet the in-person standard of care and comply with certain federal health privacy rules, according to the press release.
The Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County presents The Jewish-American Experience: Connecting Jewish Institutions Together, a four-part series of Zoom programs that feature representatives from Jewish museums throughout the country.
The program schedule includes The Jewish Museum of the American West, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m.; The Museum of Jewish Southern Experience, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m.; Washington State Jewish Historical Society, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m.; and the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. Admission is $5 per program, or $15 for the series, according to a press release.
Beginning with the 23 Jewish people who arrived in New Amsterdam (New York) from Recife, Brazil, in 1654, America became the Promised Land for religious freedom and economic opportunity, according to the press release.
Many immigrants settled in or near the Atlantic port cities of the United States, but many moved westward in search of gold and land, thus establishing Jewish roots in varying parts of the country.
In this series, the Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County welcomes Jewish institutions from around the United States to share their histories and discuss the impact they make on their local Jewish communities.
For more information and to receive the Zoom link, call 732-252-6990 or visit http://www.jhmomc.org