The list of previous honorees for the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s Thomas H. Kean Sr. Business Leadership Award reads like a who’s who of greats in the New Jersey business community: Dennis Bone, Gov. Brendan Byrne, Tony Coscia, Al Koeppe, Amy Mansue and Bill Marino.
Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Bob Garrett certainly belongs in that company.
Garrett, honored Thursday night during the banquet for the Walk to Washington, oversees an incredible enterprise of 18 hospitals, 500 patient care locations and 36,000 team members.
But it is his entrepreneurial spirit that sets him apart from leaders in every sector.
HMH, under Garrett’s guidance, is investing more than $3 billion over the next several years in infrastructure that will result in new surgical and critical care towers, expanded emergency departments and two dozen new ambulatory care centers opening throughout New Jersey.
More importantly, HMH is investing in a new way of doing health care.
The transformative mixed-use and transit-oriented development project that HMH is building at Metropark Station in Iselin — one that will combine health care with office, retail and residential in an unprecedented way — is unique to the U.S. and one other systems likely will soon follow.
Garrett’s reach, however, goes far beyond the state and nation.
A longtime participant at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Garrett now serves as chair of the Health and Healthcare Governor’s Community — a group that not only includes leaders from pharmaceuticals, medical devices and providers, but also health organizations and ministers.
Among other efforts, the group is now investigating how AI can help support and impact the industry.
Seeing the future of health care before it arrives has long been a hallmark of Garrett’s leadership – and is just one of the reasons he was been honored with the No. 1 spot on the ROI-NJ Influencers: Health Care list on multiple occasions.
Years ago, in recognition and anticipation of a coming doctors’ shortage, Garrett led the drive to create the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, which has been graduating students since 2021.
Garrett’s drive to find solutions hasn’t slowed.
In fact, just last month, HMH signed a first-of-its-kind strategic affiliation agreement with Apollo Hospitals, India’s largest private health care system – a first-of-its-kind collaboration that not only will explore and implement innovative health care solutions, but also potentially provide a solution for the coming nursing shortage in the U.S.
Garrett, always humble, praised former Gov. Kean during his acceptance speech.
“Gov. Kean certainly has left his legacy on New Jersey and well beyond New Jersey,” he said. “When I think about Gov. Kean as a human being and as a leader, I think of words like compassionate, courageous and inspirational and somebody who connects with people.”
Garrett then promised to press on.
“I do accept this award on behalf of the 36,000 women and men at Hackensack Meridian Health, who are on the front lines of health care every day,” he said. “They are truly American heroes in every sense of the word, 8,000 dedicated physicians that serve our community, serve New Jersey the best that they can.”
