Award-Winning Care, Every Day

New Jersey’s hospitals continuously receive high rankings for exceptional service.

By Irene Maslowski, Contributing Writer On Feb 3, 2025

Living in New Jersey offers its residents many opportunities – employment, education, housing – and most importantly – superior healthcare. According to a national ranking by one of the medical industry’s leading publications, New Jersey continues to have some of the top-ranked hospital systems in the country. 

Becker’s Hospital Review’s “Great Hospitals in America” list for 2024 included several New Jersey hospitals named alongside institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. New Jersey hospitals include Hackensack University Medical Center, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Morristown Medical Center, Overlook Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Bristol-Myers-Squibb Children’s Hospital, and Valley Hospital. Some of these institutions also have been acknowledged nationally by U.S. News & World Report, Healthgrades, CMS, and The Leapfrog Group ratings. 

Many other hospitals and healthcare systems in the state garnered a remarkable number of awards, demonstrating innovation, strong leadership, and an overall commitment to patients’ needs.

Englewood Health

Englewood Health received numerous awards, including being named one of the best hospitals in the US for maternity care by Newsweek in 2024. 

“We are thrilled to be named one of America’s Best Maternity Hospitals for the third year running,” says Valerie M. French, MBA, BSN, RNC-LRN, senior director of nursing for maternal/child health at Englewood Hospital. “Being among just 404 hospitals selected nationwide is a special honor that highlights our team’s dedication to providing exceptional maternity care throughout pregnancy, delivery, and post-partum.” 

Englewood also received two top recognitions from the American Heart Association (AHA): The AHA’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Gold Plus Award, its highest-level recognition for stroke care; and its Get With The Guidelines® –Resuscitation Gold Award, its highest-level recognition for in-hospital cardiac resuscitation. Englewood also achieved the Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll, for ensuring patients with Type 2 diabetes – who might be at higher risk for complications – receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to a stroke. 

Additional awards include an ‘A’ Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group for fall 2024, a national distinction the hospital has achieved for 23 rating periods since The Leapfrog Group established the safety grade in 2012. 

 “These recognitions validate the hard work, major investments and exceptional care that Englewood Health delivers to our patients and are a testament to how seriously we uphold our mission. They reassure our community that when they choose Englewood Health, they are placing their trust in one of the best healthcare providers in the region,” says Englewood CEO Warren Geller. 

Atlantic Health System

Atlantic Health System has been recognized in two significant categories of awards that demonstrate its ongoing commitment to the communities it serves.

The first category recognizes performance and quality indicators – metrics that reflect how care is delivered, the quality of patient outcomes, and the safety with which that care is provided. These awards are from prestigious organizations including U.S. News & World Report, Healthgrades, and The Leapfrog Group. 

The second category recognizes success in creating a supportive environment for clinicians and team members, with recognition by the American Medical Association’s Joy in Medicine Award, which honors healthcare organizations for their efforts to promote well-being and reduce physician burnout.

Two of Atlantic Health System’s hospitals – Morristown Medical Center and Overlook Medical Center – earned ‘A’ grades from The Leapfrog Group in its Fall 2024 Hospital Safety Grades. Morristown Medical Center has maintained an ‘A’ Grade since Fall 2015 and Overlook Medical Center has been a consistent ‘A’ since Spring 2021.

Hackensack Meridian Health

Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) and Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) are the only New Jersey hospitals to achieve the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization’s (ELSO) Gold Level Center of Excellence in Life Support Award. This award recognizes those centers that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to evidence-based processes and quality measures, staff training and continuing education, patient satisfaction and ongoing clinical care.

HUMC and JSUMC provide Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for support of failing organ systems in infants, children and adults. ECMO is one of the most advanced forms of life support available to patients experiencing acute failure of the cardio-respiratory system. The technology allows for the patient’s lungs or heart to heal over a period of time by using a heart-lung machine to oxygenate the blood outside the body. 

RWJBarnabas Health

Six RWJBarnabas Health facilities were awarded “A” Hospital Safety Score ratings by The Leapfrog Group. The A-rated hospitals are Community Medical Center (CMC) in Toms River; Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) in Long Branch; Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus (MMCSC) in Lakewood; Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) Hamilton; RWJUH Rahway; and RWJUH Somerset. RWJUH Somerset was also named as the first hospital in New Jersey to be awarded the prestigious Health Equity Accreditation for Efforts to Eliminate Disparities, Improve Patient Outcomes by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. 

 “As the largest and most comprehensive academic health system in the state, RWJBarnabas Health takes pride in delivering compassionate, equitable, high-quality academic medicine that touches five million lives,” says Andy Anderson, MD, executive vice president and chief medical and quality officer. “Being recognized for our commitment to quality care isn’t just an accolade – it’s a testament to our tireless efforts to put patients first and continually improve outcomes.”

U.S. News & World Report has recognized six RWJBarnabas Health facilities among the 2024–2025 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care: Community Medical Center, Monmouth Medical Center, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, RWJUH, RWJUH Somerset, and Trinitas Regional Medical Center. 

Suzanne Spernal, DNP, APN-BC, senior vice president of women’s services for RWJBarnabas Health, notes, “This recognition is a testament to our pursuit of clinical excellence and commitment to clinical research with our academic partners at Rutgers Medical School and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. These are a few of the reasons why we are the first choice for more than 70 women each day who give birth at an RWJBarnabas Health facility.” 

Valley Health

Valley Health System has been named one of the top employers within the “Healthcare and Social Services” industry in New Jersey on “America’s Best Employers by State” list for 2024, published by Forbes. Valley has also ranked among the top 50 best employers in New Jersey.

“These recognitions validate that working for Valley is an incomparable, fulfilling, and rewarding experience, where every interaction is an opportunity to make our lives and those of our patients healthier, safer, and energizing,” says Jose Balderrama, vice president of human resources for Valley Health System. “We appreciate the fact that our employees find this source of resilience and level of satisfaction in their jobs.”

Valley Hospital has also been recognized by Healthgrades as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Stroke CareTM for eight years in a row (2018-2025), and one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Spine SurgeryTM in 2025. It is the only hospital in New Jersey to receive the Spine Surgery recognition for 2025, and one of two hospitals in New Jersey to receive the recognition for Stroke Care for eight years in a row (2018-2025).

They are also one of only five hospitals in New Jersey to receive all three neurosciences excellence awards – the Cranial Neurosurgery Care Excellence Award™, Neurosciences Excellence Award™, and Stroke Care Excellence Award™. 

More Award-Winning New Jersey Hospitals 

St. Peter’s University Hospital

The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s has been named as a Best Children’s Hospital by the Women’s Choice Award®. The hospital was also named by U.S. News & World Report to its 2024-2025 Best Hospitals list as a high performing hospital for diabetes, heart failure, kidney failure, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and urology, and named a 2025 High Performing Hospital for Maternity Care.  

Bergen Newbridge, Paramus

The Long-Term Care Division (LTC) at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, which is the largest licensed nursing home in New Jersey and one of only 6% to receive Joint Commission accreditation, has been recognized on Newsweek’s Best Nursing Homes 2025 list. This is the third time the Bergen New Bridge LTC Division has received this recognition.  

Holy Name Hospital

Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck has earned an “A” grade in the fall 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. The grade is based on more than 30 performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent them. 

Virtua Health

Virtua Health’s hospitals with maternity divisions are once again designated as “high performing” on U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 list of Best Hospitals for Maternity Care. 

These high-performing hospitals—Virtua Mount Holly Hospital, Virtua Voorhees Hospital, and Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes in Camden—welcome almost 9,000 babies annually.

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