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Overlook’s Chief Nursing Officer, MaryPat Sullivan, Recognized by NJ State Nurses Association

April 4, 2019

Princeton, NJ – MaryPat Sullivan, RN, MSN, CNS, chief nursing officer and chief experience officer at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ, on Thursday received a 2019 Divas of Nursing Award from the Institute for Nursing and the Foundation of the NJ State Nurses Association at the annual Divas and Dons in Nursing celebration.

The event, held at the Hyatt Regency Princeton Hotel, honored Sullivan and 12 other New Jersey nurses, leaders and educators who have made an extraordinary impact on the nursing profession and on improving the health of our community.

Sullivan joined Overlook as CNO in 2007, and as an integral part of Overlook’s senior leadership team, has created a healing environment with a focus on health care literacy and diversity, as well as implementing programs that provide for seamless pre-hospitalization, acute care, and post-hospitalization transitions of care

Overlook CNO receives 2019 Divas of Nursing Award

Nursing at Atlantic Health System is certainly a team sport, requiring the collaboration of the entire organization in order to exceed our patients’ needs and to provide an outstanding environment in which our nurses can practice,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan’s leadership of the nursing staff has been instrumental in many of Overlook’s achievements and accolades, including several disease-specific certifications by the Joint Commission. In March, Overlook was named among the World’s Best Hospitals by Newsweek in its inaugural rating. Overlook was also named one of ‘America’s 100 Best Hospitals’ for the second year in a row in 2018 by Healthgrades, which also named Overlook a 2018 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence, as well as among the top hospitals in the nation in a wide variety of specialties and services. Overlook’s nursing excellence also helped the hospital achieve two consecutive “A” Grades by the Leapfrog Group in 2018.

The Emergency Department at Overlook’s Union Campus has been designated as an ENA (Emergency Services Association) Lantern Award winner three consecutive times. Sullivan has been individually recognized as well, including the Liberty Science Center’s “Women in STEM” award in 2016.

Nursing has been integral to the development of Overlook’s status as a leader in neuroscience care, with U.S. News and World Report last year again designating Overlook as a high-performing hospital in Neurology & Neurosurgery - placing it among the top 10 percent of hospitals in the country for that specialty.

Committed to partnering with community programs, Sullivan was instrumental in establishing Overlook as the employer host of Project SEARCH, a program that helps young adults with disabilities in Union County to gain on-the-job experience. The program, now in its third year, has led to numerous interns achieving employment at the hospital and other local companies, and helped Overlook be recognized in 2018 with the Employer of the Year Award from the New Jersey chapter of the Association of People Supporting Employment First (NJ APSE).

Throughout her time at Overlook, Sullivan has served as an advisory board member of Felician University of Nursing, a volunteer for the American Heart Association, and a member of the Alumnae Board of Loyola University of Chicago, where she received her master of science degree in nursing.

Several members of the Overlook nursing team, as well as nursing leaders from throughout Atlantic Health System attended the event to show their support for Sullivan, including CNOs from Morristown, Chilton, Hackettstown and Newton – Carol Jones, Maureen Schneider, PhD, RN and Donna Watridge, respectively – and president of Morristown Medical Center, Trish O’Keefe, PhD, RN.

Through its annual Divas and Dons in Nursing celebration, the Institute for Nursing calls attention to the outstanding achievements of accomplished New Jersey nurses. Proceeds from the event will fund scholarships for nursing students, and nurses who are advancing their education. The Institute also provides quality continuing education programs, and grants for nurses involved in research.

“The mission of the Institute for Nursing is to preserve the heritage, principles, values and practices of our health profession through the support of scholarships, education and research,” said Kathleen Gillespie BSN, MBA, NE-BC, Chair, Institute for Nursing, “Our current goals include raising money to expand our scholarship and research programs. We want to bring more nurses into our profession and develop educational programs to keep nurses current on the major advances in health care. This effort is vital to improving the quality of health care in New Jersey.”

See more information about the NJSNA and Institute for Nursing and a full list of honorees >

About Atlantic Health System

Atlantic Health System is at the forefront of medicine, setting standards for quality health care in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the New York metropolitan area. Powered by a workforce of more than 16,800 team members and 4,800 affiliated physicians dedicated to building healthier communities, Atlantic Health System serves more than half of the state of New Jersey including 11 counties and 4.9 million people. The system offers more than 400 sites of care, including six hospitals: Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, NJ, Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ, Newton Medical Center in Newton NJ, Chilton Medical Center in Pompton Plains, NJ, Hackettstown Medical Center in Hackettstown, NJ and Goryeb Children’s Hospital in Morristown, NJ.

In addition to the employed workforce, Atlantic Alliance, a Clinically Integrated Network represents more than 2,500 health care providers throughout northern and central NJ. This network includes 1,000 physicians and providers comprising one of the largest multi-specialty practices in New Jersey - Atlantic Medical Group, as well as members of the Atlantic Accountable Care Organization and Optimus Healthcare Partners which work to enhance patient care delivery.

Atlantic Health System provides care for the full continuum of health care needs including 12 urgent care centers, Atlantic Rehabilitation and Atlantic Home Care and Hospice. Facilitating the connection between these services on both land and air is the transportation fleet of Atlantic Mobile Health.

Atlantic Health System leads the Healthcare Transformation Consortium, a partnership of seven regional hospitals and health systems dedicated to improving access and affordability and is a founding member of the PIER Consortium – Partners in Innovation, Education, and Research – a streamlined clinical trial system that will expand access to groundbreaking research across seven health systems in New Jersey.

Atlantic Health System has a medical school affiliation with Thomas Jefferson University and is home to the regional campus of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Morristown and Overlook Medical Centers and is the official health care partner of the New York Jets.