Atlantic Health Systems merges with Newton Memorial Hospital

Alexandra Pais/For The Star-LedgerMorristown Memorial Hospital in this 2010 file photo. Atlantic Health Systems, which owns Morristown Memorial Hospital and Overlook Hospital in Summit, officially merged today with Newton Memorial Hospital. The merger will give Newton Memorial patients easier access...

Merger involving Newton Memorial and Morristown Memorial hospitals is now official

It’s official: Newton Memorial Hospital now is part of Atlantic Health, which owns and operates Morristown Memorial Hospital and Newton Memorial Hospital.

The merger is expected to help patients of Newton Memorial by giving them access to cardiac care at Morristown Memorial and stroke and neurosciences care at Overlook, while reducing administrative costs throughout the system, according to a statement from Atlantic Health.

Here is the statement :

ATLANTIC HEALTH AND NEWTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL UNIFY

NEWTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL JOINS MORRISTOWN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AND OVERLOOK HOSPITAL UNDER ATLANTIC HEALTH UMBRELLA

MORRISTOWN, NJ – MARCH 31, 2011 – Today, the merger agreement between Atlantic Health and Newton Memorial Hospital was officially approved, paving the way for the incorporation of the Sussex County hospital into the Morristown-based hospital system.  Atlantic Health, one of the largest not-for-profit health care systems in New Jersey, currently owns and operates Overlook Hospital in Summit, NJ and Morristown Memorial Hospital.

“The unification of Atlantic Health and Newton Memorial presents tremendous benefits, first and foremost, to patients in the region,” said Joseph A. Trunfio, CEO of Atlantic Health.  “This partnership expands our health care footprint and better positions our hospitals to deliver the highest quality care and services to even more members of the community.”

Through this merger, Newton Memorial patients will benefit from Atlantic Health’s marquis services – from leading stroke and neurosciences care at the Atlantic Neuroscience Institute at Overlook Hospital, to cutting edge cardiac care at Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute at Morristown Memorial.  Working together also helps lower administrative and operational health care costs, including the sharing of health information technology and electronic medical records.

“Atlantic Health shares our commitment to improving the health status of the communities we serve,” said Tom Senker, president of Newton Memorial Hospital. “We look forward to creating additional synergies throughout this partnership to provide a greater breadth of health care services to our patients.”

The two health care providers have collaborated in several areas for years through the patient transfer system, in which cardiovascular, neuroscience and neonatal care patients have successfully received transfer care between Newton and Atlantic Health.

Additional benefits to patients will include broader access to pediatric and specialty care, clinical trials, advanced protocols for emergent care and a strengthened primary care network, making it easier to cope with the increased demand for services that health care reform is expected to generate.

Under the new arrangement, Senker serves as president of Newton Memorial Hospital and holds an officer position at Atlantic Health.  Newton Memorial, a community based medical facility serving residents of Sussex and Warren Counties in NJ, Pike County in PA, and Southern Orange County in NY for 78 years, has 146 licensed beds, more than 1,100 dedicated employees, and typically treats about 33,000 people in its emergency department each year.

Newton Memorial, Morristown Memorial and Overlook in Summit, unite under Atlantic Health banner

Today, the merger agreement between Atlantic Health and Newton Memorial Hospital was officially approved, paving the way for the incorporation of the Sussex County hospital into the Morristown-based hospital system. Atlantic Health, one of the largest not-for-profit health care systems...

Morristown businesses, sorted by size

By Beth Kujan

Small business is a term used in political and economic discussions all the time.  Just how many small businesses are there in Morristown?

According to Reference USA, 3,156 businesses have four or fewer employees.  There are five times more of these tiny businesses in Morristown than there are businesses comprised of 5-9 employees.

You may be more curious about the large employers.  One business has over 5,000 employees:  Morristown Memorial Hospital.

The next category down consists of AT&T, Colgate-Palmolive, Collabra, two Honeywell businesses and Louis Berger Group.

Between 500 – 999 employees are at the National Guard Armory and Associates in Rehabilitation Medicine.

The database Reference USA is available through the Morristown Library’s Research from Home page.

Beth Kujan is one of the organizers of the Morris County Career Network, which meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown to help professionals in transition.

Podcast preview of Morris arts council’s ‘Great Conversations’: Chris Daggett of the Dodge Foundation

Great Conversations, the annual fundraising dinner of the Arts Council of the Morris Area, has lined up some great conversationalists for tonight (March 31) at the Madison Hotel.

Last week we gave you a preview of one of them, via a series of podcasts with legendary concert promoter John Scher.

Another engaging speaker is Christopher Daggett, the former gubernatorial candidate who last year assumed the presidency of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation in Morristown. Just before Chris took the helm, we interviewed him with outgoing Dodge president David Grant about the role of philanthropy in tough times.

Here is that podcast:

MORE ABOUT THE ARTS COUNCIL’S ‘GREAT CONVERSATIONS’

Roseland man invents sport called ‘frockey’ combining Ultimate Frisbee, ice hockey

ROSELAND — Peanut butter and chocolate. Tailgating and football. Wine and cheese. Some things just go together. Ultimate Frisbee and ice hockey. Bob Vidal, an insurance salesman from Roseland, believes these also are a natural match. Vidal dreamed up...

Whoopie (pie)! Sweet Lucy’s opens in Morristown

WARNING LABEL: This article contains approximately 10,000 sugary calories, and six times the recommended daily allowance of scones, birthday cakes and marshmallow whoopie pies.

In a development that is certain to have dentists and personal trainers doing cartwheels of joy across Morristown, Sweet Lucy’s finally has opened for business on South Street.

The lure of Lucy’s confections is so strong that all attempts to lock up at quitting time proved futile on Wednesday.

Passersby would not be denied a chance to skip dinner and scarf down a dessert of macaroons, tarts and cookie-dough cupcakes.

Even lingerie ladies were powerless against this caloric siren song.

“Today I’m on the Pretend Diet,” said Nicole, a saleswoman who was buying a box of maple oatmeal whoopie pies and other naughty snacks for her gal pals at the Dain Shoppe.

Fortunately, we have it on good authority that this stuff actually has medicinal qualities.

“It’s got psycho-social value,” declared Matthew Mascari, a nursing student at Morristown Memorial Hospital and volunteer on the Morristown Ambulance Squad. He then demonstrated his recommended method of ingesting a red velvet cupcake, devouring the bottom first and then savoring the creamy crown.

Please click icon below for captions.

Even the chef herself, Sweet Lucy’s owner Tracy Silverman, admitted she was having a tough time laying off her products since opening the shop last week.

“I know it’s going to catch up with me. When you are around it enough, you don’t want to eat it. But right now, there is a lot of taste-testing,” said the Connecticut native.

The public can do its own taste-testing at the official Grand Opening on Saturday, April 2. The first 20 customers get free cupcakes and there will be raffles and samples throughout the day.

You might even get to meet Lucy, a sweet yellow Labrador retriever for whom the shop is named.

Although health rules prohibit Lucy from stepping inside–despite the sale of oatmeal-and-peanut butter doggie treats–Tracy’s 18-month-old pet could make a guest appearance outside.

It’s a day that has been a long time coming. Last summer Tracy was hoping for a November opening. Renovating the former Fidelity Investments storefront–which now includes a dropped tin ceiling and pink walls to complement an original brick wall– was more involved than she anticipated.

She spent the extra down time refining her business model and perfecting recipes, with a little help from husband Blake, who works in real estate when he’s not testing Tracy’s latest batch of brownies in their Somerset County home.

Now, the baking starts every morning at 5 or 6 o’clock. That’s the fun part.

The challenge is juggling business chores. Luckily, Tracy, 28, has a finance background. The Bucknell University graduate had a taste of corporate life before heading to the Institute of Culinary Education in New York to become a pastry chef.

While we’re sure the calorie counts are off the charts, creations at Sweet Lucy’s are fat-free, according to Tracy. Gluten-free goodies are coming, she promises.

Of course, Morristown already has some sinfully good bakeries–the Artist Baker, the Swiss Chalet and Mara’s come to mind.

Tracy is banking on the combination of great location, free WiFi, organic free-trade coffee and fine ingredients (European butter, Valrhona chocolate) to carve a niche for Sweet Lucy’s.

“We’re looking for people who are foodies,” she said. “And this space is such a nice place to hang out.”

So nice, that Sonia Waldman had to venture inside–even though she bakes cupcakes for a living at the Bernards Cafe.

“I go to all the bakeries,” she explained, as her son Christian, 4, and niece Micaela Caceres, 8, eyed the display cases rapturously. “I love sweet stuff.”

Say it ain’t so: ANOTHER winter storm watch for Morristown!

Please, please, please say this is a sick April Fool’s joke, Mr. Meteorologist!

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Thursday night (March 31) into Friday morning (April 1) with a possibility for five to 10 inches of snow.

Now we know how General Washington and the boys felt back in the Revolution. Talk about Hard Winters!

See if this gets you in the proper mood for Opening Day:

* IMPACTS…SLIPPERY ROADS AND DEGRADED TRAVEL…ALONG WITH ISOLATED DOWNED TREE LIMBS OR TREES AND RESULTANT ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES.

* WINDS…NORTH 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 20 MPH.

* TEMPERATURES…UPPER 20S TO MID 30S.

* VISIBILITIES…OCCASIONALLY ONE HALF MILE OR LESS IN MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW.

The forecast is sufficiently scary that even the hardened, hard-core folkies at The Minstrel are contemplating a music-free Friday night, for safety’s sake.

As a boyhood literary hero used to say…

Yeeecccccchhhhhhhhh!

Rotary scored big for charity at ‘Taste of Morristown’

The numbers are in, and they are tasty.

Monday’s “Taste of Morristown” netted more than $40,000 for charity, said Scott Marum, co-chairman of the event for the Morristown Rotary Club.

That’s up from last year, he said, crediting several factors.

First, there was a new venue, the Hanover Marriott. Though not as roomy as last year’s location, the Morristown Armory,  the hotel offered a lot more ambiance.

“The Hanover Mariott did a great job,” said Scott, past president of the Morristown Rotary.

Plus, “there were a lot of great restaurants this year”–about 40 of them, along with wine vendors brought by Gary’s Wine & Marketplace and liquor vendors from the Whisky Guild.

And the overall mood was more upbeat, Scott said.

“Last year, the economy was tough. This year, it’s a little better.”

The Rotary also lowered the admission price, from $70 last year to $60.

Scott estimated the turnout at 500 people. Proceeds will benefit the Girl Scouts, the Interfaith Food Pantry, the Neighborhood House, the Market Street Mission, Jersey Battered Women’s Service Inc., the Gift of Life, Camp Merry Heart and PolioPlus.

Stefan Armington: More concerns about condition of Speedwell Avenue on eve of hearing

Note: Marty Epstein of Marty’s Reliable Cycle on Speedwell Avenue contends Speedwell has become an “orphan neighborhood,” and he is urging neighbors to attend the March 31 town meeting about  Speedwell redevelopment plan. Stefan Armington, a planning board member and council candidate, also has concerns about Speedwell’s future.

By Stefan Armington

First of all, while I do not know the specifics of the Speedwell Avenue redevelopment plans, I am supportive of the administration’s efforts and preliminary design concepts for improving this area.  I look forward to Thursday’s meeting to see what the administration has planned for the Speedwell Avenue redevelopment project.

My concern  is for the integrity of the broader Speedwell Avenue business district in the redevelopment zone that is outside of the current plans (car dealership and Blockbuster), and the adjacent areas that are outside of the redevelopment zones .

I think it is a common perception that the Speedwell Avenue business district (north of Clinton Street) has deteriorated significantly over the last 10 years, and especially over the last five years since the area between Clinton Street and Flagler was designated an Area in Need of Redevelopment.

From the previous public meetings, I understand that the first phase of the redevelopment effort will be on the site of the DPW property, and then other phases will be constructed.

Given that approach, physical improvements to Speedwell Avenue probably will not happen for several years, and construction on the east side of Speedwell Ave (Car Dealership) probably will not happen for a long time.

So the big question is, what is the Town’s plan for improving the greater Speedwell Avenue District?

Many business owners the residents that I have spoken with are concerned about the lack of investment into the Speedwell Avenue area. All the businesses pay into a Special Improvement District, but they are not aware of any benefit from those payments. We all see the sidewalk improvements and new street lights and lamp poles in the other parts of the Special Improvement District, but not on this part of Speedwell Avenue.

Some owners have invested in their properties – Marty’s, Rago’s and there is a current planning board application for façade improvements for Castellano’s Grocery, but in general, these improvements are few and far between, and the general state of public and private infrastructure gets worse every year.

Would public investment in the form of new streetscapes and better lighting improve the area?
Can the Town provide incentives to property owners to invest in their properties and to work with developers to improve vacant and underutilized lots?

Over the last 5-10 years, the answer to fixing Speedwell Avenue has been demolish and redevelop. And here we are 10 years later, with little improvement…

So Marty and I and a number of other business owners and residents would like the Town to initiate a larger public discussion about Speedwell Avenue and develop a plan for improvements that combines Redevelopment and other measures.

We have had some preliminary discussions with the Mayor and town planners and they agree that this discussion is needed.  Thanks.

MORE ABOUT THE SPEEDWELL AVENUE REDEVELOPMENT

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