This NJ hospital fired 4 senior executives this month. RWJBarnabas CEO reveals why.



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RWJBarnabas Health fired four executives from Saint Barnabas Medical Center earlier this month due to the facility’s underperformance, the hospital network chief told NJ Advance Media.

The CEO of the Livingston plant and three other senior administrators were fired on September 7.

For weeks, it had been a mystery why they had been discharged from the highly rated hospital. NJ Advance Media first reported the departures after receiving an internal memo announcing the staff changes.

But the head of RWJBarnabas Health – the parent company of Saint Barnabas and one of New Jersey’s largest medical systems – said the layoffs were out of the hospital’s direction, especially the expansion. clinical and university programs.

The bottom line is that the medical center was not making progress in critical areas – or at least not fast enough – Barry H. Ostrowsky, president and CEO of RWJBarnabas Health, told NJ Advance Media.

“It was really about the medical center moving in a direction, in a way and at a pace that I think we can do,” Ostrowsky said. “And we needed a new management team to do it. There was nothing untoward. There was no scandal. “

He added: “It hurts to have to do this.”

Each year, the 597-bed hospital – one of the largest in the state – treats nearly 95,000 emergency department patients, more than 32,000 inpatients and 300,000 outpatients.

Saint Barnabas is ranked fifth best healthcare facility in New Jersey in the latest US News & World Report analysis. He maintained his streak in a row this year in the latest Leapfrog Hospital Safety newsletter. The medical center has received an A every year since the newsletter began in 2012.

Earlier this month, RWJBarnabas Health announced the departure of Stephen P. Zieniewicz, President and CEO; Patrick Haughey, COO; Margaret Lundberg Cook, head nurse; and Ceu Cirne-Neves, vice-president of ambulatory services.

Neves declined to comment when reached by phone. Attempts to reach Zieniewicz, Haughey and Cook failed.

Ostrowsky said he wanted the facility to go further in developing its clinical programming and academics.

“We could have and can accelerate the development of the campus, the expansion of our university programs and the expansion of our clinical programs,” he said. “I think the acceleration of each of these elements will come with new management.”

Richard Davis, who was RWJBarnabas Health’s North Region CFO, has been named the new President and CEO of Saint Barnabas Medical Center.

“You hate making a tough decision,” Ostrowsky said. “The medical center is very successful both clinically and financially. It’s just (might) be more successful. And so, when you’re faced with that, it hurts even more to have to make that decision, but it’s even more important that you do it because if you want to harness the full potential of an institution, you have to make sure you have the right leadership team, and we are clearly doing it now.

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Spencer Kent can be reached at [email protected].

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