Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset is the first hospital in New Jersey – and only the fourth hospital or health system in the country – to earn the prestigious Health Equity Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
NCQA’s Health Equity Accreditation recognizes leading organizations that meet or exceed rigorous requirements in the following areas: organizational readiness; race/ethnicity, language, gender identity and sexual orientation; access and availability of language services; practitioner network cultural responsiveness; culturally and linguistically appropriate services programs; and reducing health care disparities.
RWJUH Somerset serves a culturally diverse population that speaks over 50 languages and has prioritized efforts to reduce health disparities and improve patient health outcomes.
RWJBH CEO Mark Manigan certainly was thrilled to see the hospital honored.
“This designation is a testament to RWJBarnabas Health’s commitment to addressing health disparities in our communities and the social determinants that impact health outcomes,” he said. “Our mission is to make our communities healthier. We achieve this not only by caring for the sick and injured but also by ensuring that the most vulnerable among us have access to healthy food, reliable transportation, and housing. Implementing these standards is part of our broader effort to create far-reaching access to health care and social services.”
Dr. Andy Anderson, EVP and Chief Medical and Quality Officer, RWJBarnabas Health, agreed.
“This is a tremendous achievement and one for which the entire team at RWJUH Somerset should be proud,” he said. “Our commitment at RWJBarnabas Health is to provide medical treatment that is uniquely tailored to each of our diverse patients and their needs.”
In addition to RWJUH Somerset being home to the Babs Siperstein PROUD Center, the first in the state to provide specialized primary health care services to the LGBTQ+ community, the hospital has several initiatives to address health equity in underserved, uninsured and vulnerable communities, including:
- Donating 5,100 pounds of surplus food from its cafeteria to deliver over 4,100 meals through the Share My Meals program to help support families who are experiencing food insecurity
- Providing transitional housing through the Healing Homes program to patients who had an illness that caused a financial hardship and are unable to afford housing
- Promoting exercise and healthy living for children in underserved urban communities through the creation of the RWJUH Somerset Community Field in Bound Brook in partnership with the Players Development Academy (PDA) Urban Initiative, which provides premier soccer turf facilities, coaching and playing opportunities to keep kids active
- Providing bilingual health information and education, as well as a Latino outreach coordinator, through the hospital’s Community Health Department for diabetes and breast cancer prevention, as well as separate programs in African American communities to encourage and educate about mammograms, prostate and cancer screenings
- Employing culturally competent and language-proficient patient navigators in the area’s Hispanic, Indian and Chinese communities to specifically to assist patients with making medical appointments, arranging round-trip transportation for medical appointments, finding specialty doctors, filling out forms, accompanying patients to treatments at both the hospital and doctors’ offices, and providing translation/interpretation services.
Deirdre Blaus, Interim Chief Administrative Officer, RWJUH Somerset, said health equity is a priority at RWJUH Somerset.
“From our buy-local-hire-local supplier diversity programs to employing a team at all levels who reflect the cultural diversity of the communities we serve and making investments in language services to ensure our medical and support staff can communicate seamlessly with patients, we work every day to reduce health disparities and improve outcomes for all patients,” he said.
NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care.
RWJBarnabas Health said each of its other hospitals and the system will pursue NCQA Health Care Accreditation in 2025.
