August 2015, Newton, NJ – The Newton Medical Center Advisory Board has named E. Jane Brown, a longtime member with accomplishments in finance and health care, as its new chair, as longtime chair Robert McCracken stepped down from the role.
Starting in 1983, Brown has served in numerous roles on the board, including chair, vice chair, treasurer, secretary, and as a member of several of the board’s committees.
Among these committees was the strategic planning committee, which she chaired. That committee was responsible for creating Sparta Health & Wellness, in Sparta and Milford Health & Wellness and Urgent Care, in Milford, Pennsylvania, as well as upgrades to the hospital’s emergency room and cardiac catheterization lab. She has also served in several roles on the board of the hospital’s Foundation since 1986.
More recently, Brown has been chair of Newton Medical Center’s “’15 For Women – Year of Women’s Health,” a year-long campaign in which in which Newton Medical Center will be highlighting women’s contributions to the health and well-being of their families and their communities throughout 2015. The campaign seeks to also raise essential funds that will help Newton Medical Center remain on the forefront of medical and technological advances, enhance its programs, services and facilities and most importantly, support its mission to deliver high-quality, safe, affordable patient care within a healing culture.
The centerpiece project of the campaign is the Center for Breast Health at Newton Medical Center. Due to open later this year, the center will address all of a woman’s breast health needs including state of the art technology, resources, education, support and follow up care.
“Jane’s voice has been part of Newton Medical Center’s legacy and as chair will continue to contribute to the advancements we will be putting in place to keep our communities healthy, such as the Center for Breast Health,” said Joe DiPaolo, president of Newton Medical Center and vice president of Atlantic Health System.
In addition to her work at Newton Medical Center, Brown has served a trustee of the New Jersey Hospital Association from 1993-2003. She also served on the American Hospital Association Leadership Development Committee and Trustee Council on Governance from 2004-2010.
Since 1998, Brown has served at the Catholic Academy of Sussex County, located in Sparta, where she Chief Financial Officer and Operating Officer until this year. She oversaw the academy’s accounting practices and other financial aspects, including a $29 million budget across five schools, Grades Pre-K to 12. Having recently left the Academy, she will be joining a new philanthropic initiative to create a faith-based private school network throughout the country. She is also a director of Highlands State Bank since 2008, and prior to that was founder and vice-chair of Noble Community Bank.
McCracken joined the North Jersey Healthcare Corporation Board in 2001. That board later became the Newton Memorial Hospital board of directors, and then the Newton Medical Center Advisory Board. He remains a member of the board, as well as a member of the board of trustees for Newton Medical Center’s parent organization, Atlantic Health System, and is also chair of the organization’s governance committee.
McCracken’s accomplishments as chair include restructuring the hospital board, consolidating committees for efficiency and accountability and initiating a board focus on quality. He also led the board’s analysis and decision to merge with the Atlantic Health System. More recently, McCracken spearheaded the development and implementation of the Altitude Youth Empowerment program, in which Newton Medical Center works with local organizations, community leaders and schools to empower eighth-graders throughout Sussex County.
The mission of the Newton Medical Center Advisory Board is to identify and assess the health care needs of the communities served by Newton Medical Center and, in collaboration with hospital administration and other health care resources in the community, to develop strategies and programs to meet these needs.
The 15-member Advisory Board is responsible for finding ways to meet the specific and unique needs of the communities served by the hospital. Among other activities, this involves conducting community needs assessments every three years, evaluating funding proposals to improve community health status and promote wellness, and collaborate with public health resources in the community to establish valid and reliable measures to evaluate community health programs.
Newton Medical Center
Newton Medical Center, part of Atlantic Health System has been providing care to the community since 1932 and serves the people of Sussex and Warren counties in New Jersey, Pike County in Pennsylvania and southern Orange County in New York. Newton Medical Center is a trusted regional resource and a community-focused health care provider dedicated to quality and innovative service. The hospital received The Joint Commission certification for Advanced Primary Stroke, and is the recipient of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®- Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Plus Quality Achievement Award. Newton Medical is one of a select few health care facilities in New Jersey to be accredited by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) in all three of the following echocardiography procedures: adult transthoracic, adult transesophogeal and adult stress. It also received the Outstanding Achievement Award and Three-Year Approval with Commendation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. Newton Medical Center also operates Milford Health & Wellness and Urgent Care, Sparta Health & Wellness, and Vernon Health & Wellness and Urgent Care.