Hamilton Township, NJ, June 6, 2024 – Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (RWJUH Hamilton), an RWJBarnabas Health facility, partnered with the Hamilton Township School District to present a day of wellness as an option for the district’s professional development day. Sponsored by RWJUH Hamilton’s Community Health and the RWJ Fitness & Wellness Teams, this exclusive, customizable, and complimentary event was extended to 300 Hamilton Township teachers and staff from 23 schools within the K-12 district who educate a total of approximately 12,000 students a year. The event was held at RWJUH Hamilton’s Center for Health and Wellness, located at RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center, 3100 Quakerbridge Road in Hamilton, and included a plethora of activities to accommodate individual needs and interests.
RWJUH Hamilton may be the first health care provider in New Jersey to partner with a school district to help foster their commitment to the overall health and well-being of their school district teachers. This event is just the beginning of a partnership that will be able to create awareness and extend even more opportunities for the teachers to engage in and attend programs through RWJUH Hamilton’s Community Health and Better Health Program and exercise and improve physical activity at RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center.
The day offered teachers an interactive and “moving” experience with multiple sessions that included meditation; healthy cooking tips with Nicolle Palicas, MPH, program manager, and Jennifer Criado, assistant manager, both of Wellness on Wheels, and Kerri Likakis, MS, RD, manager of Community Wellness at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility; women’s and men’s health presentations by RWJBarnabas Medical Group physicians Jasmeet K. Mehta, MD, Internal Medicine, and Salman Hassan Ahmed, MD, Family Medicine; Pilates, cycling and Zumba by RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center; and chair massages and skin care seminars by Radiance Spa & Salon. These sessions were created to educate attendees about the benefits of healthy living, screenings and prevention, annual well checkups, daily exercise, nutrition, holistic health and mental health. Each teacher also received a “Passport to Wellness” and visited each provider listed to learn more about RWJUH Hamilton service offerings and to be entered into a raffle drawing to win a chance at a one-year free membership at the RWJ Fitness & Wellness Center. The RWJUH Hamilton care teams included experts in the areas of heart and vascular care, cancer care, orthopedic surgery, joint replacement, rehabilitation, physical therapy, sleep, balance and hearing, and smoking cessation.
The partners are hoping in the future to create ongoing health and wellness programs not only for the township’s 1,000 teachers but also for the parents, guardians, and students as well. “We know this event will help further develop relationships and demonstrate RWJUH Hamilton is here for our community, our teachers, students and their families, not only in emergencies and times of illness and disease but also as a resource for the overall health, wellness, and well-being of our community members,” says Lisa Breza, Chief Administrative Officer at RWJUH Hamilton.
"We were so excited to partner with RWJUH Hamilton on this Day of Wellness. This collaboration provides Hamilton Township School District faculty and staff the opportunity to focus on their personal wellness and health. I'd like to thank the team from RWJUH Hamilton for developing this engaging, fun, and educational opportunity for our school district," says Scott R. Rocco, Ed. D., Superintendent at Hamilton Township School District.
RWJUH Hamilton’s Community Health and Better Health programs and support groups can be found online at rwjbh.org/hamiltonprograms, or print the monthly calendar.
Media Contact:
Sherry Smith, Director, Strategic Marketing & Communications
(609)-584-6583
sherry.smith2@rwjbh.org