You just marked ten years as President and CEO of the Quality Institute. With a background in law, health insurance, and government, what inspired you to join the Quality Institute, and what continues to motivate you today? The Quality Institute excels in two areas critically important to me: connecting people and making things better. When…Read More…

Chuck Cerniglia, Executive Director, UnitedHealthcare of New Jersey. UnitedHealthcare and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of New Jersey are members of the Quality Institute’s Plan Council. The Quality Institute recently publicly shared its top health care policy priorities for New Jersey with the two Gubernatorial candidates. From UnitedHealthcare’s perspective, what is the most pressing health care issue…Read More…

Alexandra Nelson, DNP, RN, FACHE, Service Line Director, Maternal & Infant Health, Capital Health, a member of the Quality Institute’s Provider Council System Level. Kelly LaMonica, DNP, Labor and Delivery Nurse Manager at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, a member of the Quality Institute’s Provider Council.  What motivated your hospital to join the Raising the Bar…Read More…

Emily Davies, MPA, Policy Fellow at the Quality Institute. Can you tell us about yourself and what drew you to the Quality Institute? The Quality Institute’s approach to policy change through multi-sector engagement resonates with my own personal values of collaboration — of thinking about how we can break down barriers to work together to…Read More…

Becky Levy, Chief Executive Officer, Vanova Health, a member of the Quality Institute’s Provider Council. How does Vanova Health work with independent primary care physicians? Vanova Health’s mission is to empower independent physicians to thrive. We support primary care physicians that seek to transform their practices by diving deeper into value-based contracting with payers. We…Read More…

New Jersey Policy Perspective is a member of the Quality Institute’s Consumer Council. How should the New Jersey state budget be changed to help more people access care and meet social needs to promote a healthier state? Our state budget reflects the values we prioritize. A key lesson we must apply is the importance of…Read More…

In our personal and professional lives, we often prepare ourselves for emergencies: fire drills, CPR certifications, and stocking first aid kits. We’re trained to respond quickly when someone is physically injured or in danger. But how prepared are we to respond when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis?    This week, I had the…Read More…

George Helmy, Executive Vice President, Chief External Affairs and Policy Officer of RWJBarnabas Health, a member of the Quality Institute’s Leadership Council. You worked as State Director to U.S. Senator Cory Booker, and were appointed by Governor Phil Murphy to briefly fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Senator Bob Menendez. What lessons did you learn…Read More…

Stefanie Simmons, MD, Chief Medical Officer at the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. The Quality Institute is partnering with the Foundation on the initiative, “ALL IN: Caring for New Jersey’s Caregivers.”   What is the story behind the creation of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation? Lorna was a department chair of emergency medicine, at the top…Read More…

Michael Schmidt, LCSW, M.A., Executive Director/CEO of The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, a generous funder of the Quality Institute’s work on Perinatal Mental Health. What brought you to The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey? I have always been drawn to mission-driven organizations. I began my career working with older adults, then managed a homeless…Read More…