Newark Beth Israel Medical Center has been named most racially inclusive by the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank. Newark Beth Israel ranks fourth on the list and is the only hospital in New Jersey to rank among the top ten.
“These findings recognize our dedication to equity in healthcare. At Newark Beth Israel we understand the disproportionate impact that healthcare disparities have on the communities we serve. As an anchor institution in the South Ward and the greater Newark area we are committed to addressing those disparities and creating true equity for our diverse patient populations,” said Darrell K. Terry, Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey.
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is an RWJBarnabas Health facility committed to being an anti-racist organization. The hospital has created several employee and physician forums for discussions on race, it is an HEI designated facility that fosters equity and inclusion for LGBTQ patients, and the hospital recently named its first-ever Chief Equity Officer, Atiya Jaha-Rashidi, RN, MHA.
The Lown Institute assessed 3,200 hospitals in the United States. Lown then scored each hospital based on how well the demographics of the hospital’s community area matched the demographics of its Medicare patient population.
The rankings found that, even within the same urban area, some hospitals served significantly more diverse populations than others. At the top 50 most inclusive hospitals, people of color made up 61% of patients on average, compared to 17% at the bottom 50 hospitals.