Hackensack Meridian Health

• 1. Introduction

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  In 2021, Eli Manning, the retired New York Giants quarterback, joined the board of trustees of Hackensack Meridian Health. That connection says something about the scale of HMH's presence in New Jersey life. The organization runs 17 hospitals and more than 500 additional facilities. It employs 36,000 people, and its reach extends from Bergen County in the north to Atlantic County in the south. Seven of its affiliated hospitals earned an 'A' grade for patient safety in the fall of 2021. Five appeared on U.S. News and World Report's list of the best hospitals in New Jersey that same year. How this network grew to that size is worth understanding. What it cost to hold that network together through crisis, and what HMH has built beyond its hospital campuses, are the questions ahead.

• 2. Growth by Merger

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  On the 12th of May 2015, Meridian Health and Hackensack University Medical Center signed an agreement to unite into a single organization. The merger finalized in 2016, and HMH has continued growing through partnerships and acquisitions ever since. But the groundwork for that union stretched back a decade. In November 2006, Hackensack University Medical Center entered a memorandum of understanding with Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood. That hospital was then owned by Well Care Group, Inc. The negotiations moved slowly. On the 1st of October 2008, Hackensack opened a satellite emergency department at the Pascack Valley site to treat non-life-threatening emergencies. That facility converted into a full-service hospital in 2013, with for-profit partner LHP Hospital Group, now operating under the name Ardent Health Services.

  In September 2014, Meridian Health signed a letter of intent with Raritan Bay Medical Center, which was then facing significant financial pressure. That merger completed on the 1st of January 2016, the same year Hackensack and Meridian joined forces.

  On the 3rd of January 2019, HMH finalized a merger with Carrier Clinic, a psychiatric healthcare provider based in Belle Mead. HMH committed to investing $25 million in the Belle Mead campus for upgraded infrastructure, technology, and expanded services. Plans for the merger also established behavioral health urgent care centers across New Jersey and new tele-psychiatry services.

  On the 15th of October 2019, HMH announced a proposed merger with Englewood Health, a healthcare provider in Bergen County. HMH agreed to invest $400 million in the facility. That commitment covered new operating rooms, expanded outpatient care, and larger cardiac catheterization labs. The affiliation also included an expanded academic partnership with the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. In December 2020, the Federal Trade Commission announced a lawsuit to block the deal on grounds of monopolistic practices. The merger was called off in 2022.

  On the 29th of January 2025, HMH announced a partnership with Apollo Hospitals, described as India's largest private hospital network. The goal was to develop health care solutions applicable in both countries. It marked HMH's first large-scale health care venture outside the United States.

• 3. Community and Giving

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  In 2021, the naming rights to the MetLife Stadium Legacy Club passed from New York-Presbyterian Hospital to HMH. The space was renamed the Hackensack Meridian Health Legacy Club at MetLife Stadium. HMH and the New York Giants collaborate on health education, disease prevention, clinical research, and philanthropic projects.

  The HMH Foundation was established to coordinate ten separate, localized hospital foundations spread across the network. Substantial gifts in 2021 were directed by donors toward cardiac treatment research and COVID-19 protective equipment supplies. Some donors designated their contributions for discretionary use in support of HMH's stated mission. One initiative run through the foundation is Tackle Kids' Cancer. Tackle Kids' Cancer raises funds for the Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center. That hospital operates 105 beds and carries the designation as the best children's hospital in New Jersey.

• 4. From Ransomware to AI

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  On the 2nd of December 2019, a ransomware attack struck HMH's computer systems and forced administrators to cancel roughly 100 elective medical procedures. The attack lasted five days. In the administrators' own words, it "affected anything with computer software." Administrators chose to pay the ransom, though the amount was never disclosed publicly. A statement released on December 13 read: "We believe it's our obligation to protect our communities' access to health care."

  In 2021, HMH was among the first hospital organizations in the country to migrate its entire computing hardware to ChromeOS devices. The organization simultaneously deployed Google Cloud to strengthen its cybersecurity posture. Machine learning and healthcare artificial intelligence tools were introduced to expedite diagnostic decisions and assist with clinical treatments. Those tools were applied to newborn screening, mammography screening, prostate cancer screening, sepsis detection, and COVID-19 detection. The COVID-19 detection capability was deployed as the pandemic was already placing significant demands on the network's hospitals.

• 5. Ten Thousand Patients

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  In 2021, HMH received more than $100 million from FEMA for emergency relief and treated more than 10,000 patients during the pandemic. Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune administered the first Pfizer vaccine doses for children ages 5-11 in New Jersey. That milestone followed the CDC's approval of the pediatric dose.

  HMH required all of its employees to be fully vaccinated by the 15th of November 2021. By July of that year, roughly 70 percent of health workers across the network had received their doses. A share of the remaining staff resisted vaccination. Those employees cited concerns that the vaccine might cause sterility. On the 9th of September 2020, HMH had already signed a ten-year partnership with American Dream in East Rutherford. The arrangement included opening an urgent care center at the complex and hosting pop-up health and wellness events. HMH also took on a role helping the complex reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey. The ten-year agreement ensures HMH's urgent care and wellness presence at American Dream through approximately 2030.