RWJBarnabas Health is a

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

of independent

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

providers in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, based out of West Orange. Members include academic centers, acute care facilities, and research hospitals. The goals of the network include collaboration on educational and research programs. RWJBarnabas Health was created through the 2016 merger of the Robert Wood Johnson Health System and the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. , RWJBarnabas employs over 40,000 individuals, with 1,000 resident and interns and approximately 1,500 volunteers across the entire health network and its subordinates.

History

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital panorama

In July 2015, Saint Barnabas Health Care System, headquartered in West Orange, New Jersey, and Robert Wood Johnson Health System, headquartered out of New Brunswick, New Jersey, signed an agreement outlining a merger between the two health systems. The

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

, as well as the New Jersey Attorney General, needed to review the deal before it was official, with the expectation that the merger would be approved and completed in the following year. On March 30, 2016, the two health systems officially merged and formed RWJBarnabas Health. The transaction created New Jersey's largest health care system and the largest private employer in the state. After the merger, Barry Ostrowsky, CEO of Saint Barnabas, took over as president & CEO of the new health system, while Stephen Jones, CEO of Robert Wood Johnson Health, was named Chief Academic Officer. Company leadership also announced that a formal headquarters would not be named, rather the business operations would be run out of the West Orange offices while the academic operations would continue out of the New Brunswick location. In January 2023, Mark Manigan replaced Barry Ostrowsky as president & CEO of the health system.

Acquisitions

Trinitas Regional acquisition

In October 2019, the leaders of RWJBarnabas Health signed a letter of intent to acquire the Trinitas Regional Medical Center in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Saint Peter's Healthcare System signed a letter of intent to explore a merger. The preliminary plan calls for significant investments in Saint Peter's by RWJBarnabas Health to help expand the outpatient services currently provided by Saint Peter's. Saint Peter's would remain a Catholic hospital and continue its sponsorship by the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen The Diocese of Metuchen () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in the borough of Metuchen, New Jersey, Metuchen in New Jersey in the United States. The Diocese of Metuchen was established on November 19, 1981. The mother church of th ...

. According to administrations from both hospitals, the two parties had been in discussions for a while and believe they could both benefit from the merger. The merger would also strengthen education services provided at the two Rutgers-affiliated hospitals. On September 10, 2020, it was announced that the health systems signed a definitive agreement to merge. The merger would create the largest academic medical center in the state. After signing the agreement, the potential partnership began a period of review by state and federal regulatory agencies. The Federal Trade Commission announced the filings of an official complaint and lawsuit to block the merger on June 2, 2022, claiming the merger would violate section 7 of the

Clayton Act The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 (, codified at , ), is a part of United States antitrust law with the goal of adding further substance to the U.S. antitrust law regime; the Clayton Act seeks to prevent anticompetitive practices in their incip ...

. FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova stated in a June 2022 press release, "Saint Peter's University Hospital is less than one mile away from RWJ in New Brunswick, and they are the only two hospitals in that city... There is overwhelming evidence that this acquisition would be bad for patients, because the parties would no longer have to compete to provide the lowest prices and the best quality and service." The agency alleged further that the merger would give the combined health systems approximately 50% of the

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

in acute care within Middlesex County. On June 14, 2022, both RWJBH and Saint Peter's announced that the agreement was terminated.

Rutgers partnership

In August 2018, a partnership was announced with

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, making RWJBarnabas the largest academic health system in New Jersey. The announcement was made public by Jonathan Holloway, President of Rutgers, and Barry Ostrowsky, then-President & CEO of the health system. In February 2021, it was further announced that the two entities would begin an Integrated Practice Agreement (IPA) between Rutgers'

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a medical school of Rutgers University. It is one of the two graduate medical schools of Rutgers Health, together with New Jersey Medical School, and is closely aligned with Robert Wood Johnson University ...

and the RWJBarnabas group practices.

Hospitals in the system

At the time of formation, RWJBarnabas comprised eleven

acute care Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery.Alberta Health ServicesAcute care.Acce ...

hospitals, three acute care children's hospitals, and a pediatric rehab facility. Since then, the health system has added two additional hospitals (Trinitas) and three medical schools: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (Newark), Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

), and Trinitas School of Nursing Union College (Elizabeth).

References

External links

Official RWJBarnabas Health site
{{authority control Hospital networks in the United States Medical and health organizations based in New Jersey Hospitals established in 2015 2015 establishments in New Jersey Companies based in Essex County, New Jersey West Orange, New Jersey Health care companies based in New Jersey