Merger of Two New Jersey Organizations Creates New State of Health Care
// By Lisa D. Ellis //
When two health care organizations in New Jersey merged to create one larger, more comprehensive system called Hackensack Meridian Health last summer, there were many opportunities and challenges.
For instance, the CEOs of both legacy organizations decided to share the top leadership role in the new system, pooling their wealth of experience to guide it to success. While having co-CEOs is a relatively unusual operating strategy in the health care world, it certainly isn’t unheard of in business. But it does mean that there are two different viewpoints to consider when it comes to making top decisions.
Ryan Younger, Vice President of Strategic Marketing for Hackensack Meridian Health
There are also now two teams of staff members with different ways of operating and different target audiences with different interests and concerns, which requires the marketing and communication departments to come together to establish new, more strategic goals to serve a broad 100-mile region in the very fast-paced and competitive area between New York City and Pennsylvania as well as a limitless service area for quaternary care.
But luckily, none of these factors has been a real stumbling block for Hackensack Meridian Health in the six months since the new network was formed. It has just required strategically blending of the best of both systems into one even stronger model, according to Ryan Younger, Vice President of Strategic Marketing for Hackensack Meridian Health.