Balpreet Grewal-Virk Recognized for Impact Across New Jersey
West Orange, New Jersey, August 23, 2024 – Balpreet Grewal-Virk, RWJBarnabas Health Senior Vice President, Community Health, has been honored as a recipient of the 2024 NJBIZ Leading Women in Business award, which recognizes women who have made a significant impact on New Jersey. The honorees will be celebrated at an event on October 15, 2024.
In less than one year, Ms. Grewal-Virk has built a robust team of more than 50 community health workers (CHW); people in and of the communities served by RWJBarnabas Health in Newark, Jersey City, West Orange and New Brunswick. Her team of CHWs serve as a critical part of the continuum of care as resources for vulnerable individuals.
She is driving the collaboration between RWJBarnabas Health and Saint James Health on two new joint programs – a new Retail Pharmacy and The Food “Farmacy” – to help address issues of health equity, access to care, and health outcomes in the City of Newark. Both programs serve patients of Saint James Health in the Ironbound section of Newark and were created through funds from the Our Healthy Newark grant, a $25 million appropriation from the state. She is also leading the system’s efforts to create a food hub in Newark that will coordinate bringing fresh produce from New Jersey farms to food pantries, schools and community centers. Once completed in 2025, the 8,000 square foot building will deliver food into the hands of those who need it.
In addition to her role at RWJBarnabas Health, Ms. Grewal-Virk serves as Commissioner and New Jersey Co-Chair for the Gateway Development Commission, which was awarded the largest transportation check in US history to deliver critical rail infrastructure projects between Newark, New Jersey and Penn Station in New York City, along the Northeast Corridor (NEC). When completed, the project will expand capacity along a 10-mile stretch of the NEC and impact one million daily passengers.
She is a Trustee of The Drumthwacket Foundation and develops programming that increases children’s access to the historic site, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lower Bergen County, involved in programming that helps create a fun, safe and constructive environment for kids and teens during out-of-school hours.
Ms. Grewal-Virk is also a Trustee for SALDEF, an organization that provides support for asylum seekers, and is the Commissioner of the New Jersey Indian Commission. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Bergen County Democratic Party.