University Hospital Named One of America’s Best Employers in New Jersey in Third Annual Ranking by Forbes; Hospital Continues Track Record of Success

Hospital Recognized as a Top Employer in NJ during Challenging Period for Healthcare Nationwide

University Hospital, New Jersey’s only state-funded hospital, was recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best-In-State Employers for 2021. Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to create this recognition through a survey of 80,000 employees nationwide across 25 industry sectors, including healthcare. University Hospital was selected along with 90 other corporations in New Jersey. This recognition by Forbes adds to a growing list of achievements and awards for the Hospital in 2021.

“To have University Hospital ranked among Forbes list of America’s Best Employers for 2021, especially during a worldwide pandemic, is a significant honor for which each and every member of our team can take great pride. We have been in the worst crisis in the history of healthcare for more than a year, and we have been in this as a single, united hospital family,” said Shereef Elnahal, MD, MBA, President and CEO of University Hospital. “This honor is testament to the deep commitment of University Hospital to the City of Newark and surrounding communities, and the care we have been providing throughout this unprecedented period.”

For healthcare companies, direct recommendations from employees and general workers in the industry were used as determining factors. To obtain the ranking, the publication conducted anonymous surveys on a rolling basis from October 2020 to June 2021.

This latest honor adds to a number of recognition and achievements by University Hospital in 2021. In recent months, UH has received:

• Five awards from the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® and Get With The Guidelines® programs, which recognize hospitals that reduce barriers to prompt treatment for cardiovascular events. The AHA recognized University Hospital in the areas of emergency, heart failure, and stroke care as well as Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
• The University Hospital Center for Advanced Liver Diseases and Transplantation ranked #1 in New Jersey by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) for the success of its liver transplant program and its one-year patient survival rate of 98.7 percent.
• University Hospital was designated as one of Newsweek’s Best Maternity Care Hospitals for 2021, and was the only hospital in New Jersey and the New York metro area to receive this honor. The list recognizes hospitals that have excelled in providing quality care to mothers, newborns and their families, as measured, in part, by the 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
• UH has also achieved significant improvement in its quality measures across an array of common Hospital Acquired Conditions. UH improved performance in the reduction of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) by 40.3%; catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) by 47.1%; C. difficile by 22.6%; and Surgical Site Infection by 86.2%.
• UH also improved the efficiency of its care delivery, decreasing Length-of-Stay by 7.3% and surpassing the Vizient national benchmark of other complex academic medical centers across the country.

UH remains committed to the hospital’s performance improvement efforts implemented under the institution’s Strategic Plan. The plan, initially launched in June 2019, focuses on Quality, Safety, and Reliability in an effort to improve the health of the hospital’s patients, elevate the patient experience, reduce the cost of care, and enhance the well-being of the care team. In just a few short years, the Hospital has seen dramatic improvements in processes and procedures, an increase in the quality of care delivered to patients, and the financial performance of Hospital operations.

Compared to 2018, when Governor Murphy issued an Executive Order to insert a Monitor at the Hospital following reports of failing safety and financial metrics, UH has achieved significant improvement in its quality measures. Recently, these and other tangible improvements resulted in an upgrade to UH’s Hospital Safety Grade of “C” from The Leapfrog Group (Spring 2021), returning to this level of performance for the first time since Spring 2016.

Simultaneously, and without compromising care, the Hospital’s leadership team has keenly focused on operational efficiency, achieving financial improvement and completing nearly 100% of the measures called for in the November 2018 State Monitor’s Report. Year to date, UH has grown its earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization (EBIDA) to over 6%, a measure cited by the Monitor and frequently referenced by rating agencies. Through careful control of expenses and smart capital investments, UH now boasts positive bottom-line results after several years in the negative.

“University Hospital has come a long way from the point in 2018 when Governor Murphy appointed a State Monitor at the Hospital. Our success is directly attributed to the focus and dedication of each member of our hospital family,” continued Elnahal. “We will never stop our journey to becoming a high reliability organization, and the Hospital remains committed to our obligations to the Greater Newark community and to every patient we treat.”