Riverview Medical Center Donor Impact Report 2023

HACKENSACK MERIDIAN RIVERVIEW MEDICAL CENTER DONOR IMPACT REPORT

Riverview Medical Center Foundation

A Gift of Kindness As a beacon for the community, Hackensack Meridian Riverview Medical Center makes patient assistance a priority. Sometimes that may include covering the cost of medication or providing transportation to and from the hospital. Other times it’s as simple as providing warmth and comfort to patients. For example, the hospital provides fleece sweatshirts for patients who may find themselves unexpectedly hospitalized and without extra clothing. A soft and warm sweatshirt brings a special level of comfort. Thank you to our donors who made this possible.

An Extra Layer of Comfort and Support Palliative care is a medical specialty that provides an extra layer of support, focusing on pain and symptom management, advance care planning, psychosocial and spiritual support. Thanks to the compassionate support of our donors, Riverview Medical Center offers a training program on serious illness conversations for team members.

Participants learn how to initiate difficult conversations, focusing on values, preferences and goals of their patients, and how to work with patients in a non-clinical manner. Patients benefit from having their expressed wishes incorporated into their care plan, ensuring dignity and comfort during difficult days.

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We are making change one person at a time, and having a better outcome for our patients.”

—Stephanie DePiano, manager, Social Work Palliative Care

Robots in the Operating Room

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The technology donors have provided to us has made a tremendous impact. Because of your generous contributions, we can continue, and expand on, delivering high quality patient care.”

—Cornelius (Neil) Butler, RN, RNFA, BA, MS, director, Surgical Services In recent years, the robotic surgery program at Riverview Medical Center has grown to meet increased patient demand. Donations have enabled the purchase of additional da Vinci® Surgical System robots used in general, obstetric and thoracic surgical procedures.

The use of surgical robots has many benefits, including less time in the operating room, decreased need for pain medication and faster recovery times. For surgeons, surgical robots offer greater precision and dexterity.

Now, with four robotic surgery operating rooms at Riverview, our surgical team is on track to perform more than 2,000 robotic surgeries each year.

Vein Finder Simplifies IV Insertion For patients, the insertion of IVs can cause anxiety and discomfort, especially if the caregiver is unable to identify a suitable vein on the first try. Recently, donor support at Riverview Medical Center has enabled the purchase of a vein finder to aid in this process. The vein finder projects an infrared image onto the patient’s skin, illuminating the veins, which in turn makes it easier for caregivers to insert the IV. Getting it right on the first try is especially important in hard-to-stick patients or older patients with more fragile skin that is slower to heal. By reducing the number of attempts, the patient’s satisfaction is higher, and they are more receptive to treatment.

Educating Our Team Nurses are at the heart and soul of Riverview Medical Center, and the hospital takes great pride in being able to provide nursing scholarships to team members, thanks to donors like you. Scholarships enable team members throughout the medical center to pursue continuing education ranging from bachelors and masters to doctoral degrees. In addition to creating an increasingly skilled and educated nursing team, the scholarships also help with nursing recruitment and retention.

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We are invested in our own team, and we are so blessed we can support our nurses in this way.”

—Ceal Cetnar, MA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, vice president and chief nursing officer

DID YOU KNOW? A similar donor-funded program, the William I. Riker Oncology Symposium, helps our caregivers care for oncology patients by supporting specialized education, including continuing medical education opportunities, throughout Hackensack Meridian Health.

To learn more about how you can make an impact, email gratitude@hmhn.org.

Breast Care Available for All Riverview Medical Center’s donor-supported Pink Fund provides free screening mammograms, and supports the continuum of breast imaging care at the Jane H. Booker Women’s and Children’s Center to individuals who do not have insurance and would otherwise be unable to afford this care. The Pink Fund is a crucial part of our program and mission to provide the highest quality care and experience in early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer to patients in our community. This financial support has enabled us to provide life-saving screening and the full gamut of diagnostic and procedural services to anyone who comes through our doors and places their trust in us to receive expert, compassionate care.

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We, and our patients, are so grateful for this support.

It is invaluable to our program.”

—Harriet Borofsky, M.D., medical director of Breast Imaging

GiveHMH.org/Riverview

343 Thornall Street, 7th Floor Edison, NJ 08837

Riverview Medical Center Foundation