RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey and St. Luke’s University Health Network, based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, are pleased to announce a clinical affiliation agreement.
RWJBH and St. Luke’s have signed a three-year joint, renewable agreement to provide patients primarily in northwest New Jersey greater access to the high-quality clinical services, expertise, experience and resources of both of these two award-winning, nonprofit health care organizations. It is anticipated that in the future, additional areas of cooperation may be identified and pursued, such as clinical trials, medical education and research.
“This Agreement introduces innovative new opportunities for supporting local communities,” stated Barry H. Ostrowsky, President and Chief Executive Officer, RWJBarnabas Health. “We are excited to share expertise and resources,to learn from each other and to become more efficient in the delivery of care.”
The agreement represents neither a merger nor an acquisition, but rather a coordinated effort to promote access to the best and most advanced programs of care provided by the two systems and their physicians – especially for those patients who desire to, or must, have their care provided in New Jersey.
RWJBarnabas Health is New Jersey’s largest, most comprehensive academic health care system, dedicated to providing access to quality patient care, supporting excellence in medical education and research and operating advanced programs of clinical care and research in New Jersey and beyond. St. Luke’s is the top-rated health care systems in northeastern Pennsylvania, operating the state’s oldest nursing school, the Lehigh Valley’s only medical school and hospitals and outpatient locations in 11 counties, including Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.
Patients will benefit from coordinated access, including transfer of patients to RWJBH facilities for RWJBH’s advanced programs of care and tertiary and quaternary services provided by hospitals, physicians and other providers affiliated with RWJBH, such as oncology, pediatrics, cardiology, trauma, behavioral health, neurosurgery, home health and OB/women’s health.
Plans include seeking opportunities for clinical integration such as participation in each other’s clinically integrated networks, access to electronic medical records (when permissible) and creating evidence-based clinical programs.
Also planned is collaboration to provide expanded educational opportunities including education of medical students, recruitment of residents and fellows, co-placement of residents, co-sponsorship of fellowships and collaboration on research opportunities.
Media Contacts:
- St. Luke’s: Sam Kennedy, Corporate Communications Director, 484-526-4134, samuel.kennedy@sluhn.org
- RWJBarnabas: Ellen Greene, Vice President, Strategic Communications, 973-322-4018, ellen.greene@rwjbh.org
ABOUT RWJBarnabas Health
RWJBarnabas Health is the largest, most comprehensive health care system in New Jersey, with a service area covering nine counties with five million people. The system includes eleven acute care hospitals – Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, Community Medical Center in Toms River, Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, RWJUH in New Brunswick, RWJUH Somerset in Somerville, RWJUH Hamilton, RWJUH Rahway and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston; three acute care children’s hospitals and a leading pediatric rehabilitation hospital with a network of outpatient centers , a freestanding 100-bed behavioral health center, two trauma centers, a satellite emergency department, ambulatory care centers, geriatric centers, the state’s largest behavioral health network, comprehensive home care and hospice programs, fitness and wellness centers, retail pharmacy services, a medical group, multi-site imaging centers and an accountable care organization.
RWJBarnabas Health is New Jersey’s largest private employer – with more than 33,000 employees, 9,000 physicians and 1,000 residents and interns – and routinely captures national awards for outstanding quality and safety. RWJBarnabas Health recently announced a partnership with Rutgers University to create New Jersey’s largest academic health care system. The collaboration aligns RWJBarnabas Health with Rutgers’ education, research and clinical activities, including those at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey - the state's only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center -and Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care.
About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 15,000 employees providing services at 10 hospitals and over 300 outpatient sites. With annual net revenue greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 10 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the Lehigh Valley’s first and only regional medical school campus. It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 28 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 226 residents and fellows. St. Luke’s is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system with Medicare’s five- and four-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. St. Luke’s is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. In 2019, three of IBM Watson Health’s 100 Top Hospitals were St. Luke’s hospitals. St. Luke’s University Hospital has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health seven times total and five years in a row. St. Luke’s has also been cited by IBM Watson Health as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Program. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers.