The highly regarded Acito oversees all aspects of nursing and patient care services and operations, including critical care, surgical services, inpatient services and telemedicine, among others. She works closely with administrative and physician leadership to enhance safety and quality initiatives and practices at the medical center.
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At RWJBH, he successfully integrated and expanded a 2,500-provider medical group, including expansion of population health initiatives, leading primary care redesign across 120+ practice sites and implementing lean action plans across hospitals, including laboratory, radiology and blood product utilization that resulted in more than $5 million annual spend reduction and decreased hospital length of stay.
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In addition to his responsibilities as CEO in New Brunswick, Arnold is the president of the Southern Region of RWJBarnabas Health (which includes Monmouth Medical Center, Monmouth South and Community Medical Center) and leads the efforts of integrating those programs for quaternary care services, including cardiovascular care, trauma, neuroscience and organ transplantation.
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Kessler was recently ranked as the fourth-best rehabilitation hospital in the country. Bayoumy is responsible for the operational oversight of its four hospital campuses and ensuring the overall quality and safety of care, regulatory compliance, financial management and the strategic growth of the organization
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Bhavsar has been with Valley for 25 years and provides operational leadership for the system. He oversees key initiatives, including margin enhancement and the organization’s commitment to being a high reliability organization, as well as information systems, facilities — and Valley’s organizational and operational performance.
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The Valley Hospital was ranked among the best hospitals in New Jersey by U.S. News & World Report for 2025-26, placing among the Top 10 on the list of 96 New Jersey hospitals that were evaluated — and among the Top 25 hospitals in the New York metropolitan area.
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Long overdue honor for Buccellato, who heads a medical center that annually is ranked among the 10 best in the state. JSUMC excels in many areas, including pediatrics. It has Level 1 pediatric trauma center, the first verified in New Jersey by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.
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Charlton isn’t your typical health system CEO. He’s a community-first, sleeves-rolled-up kind of leader — one with a background as a successful entrepreneur. Charlton does have a health care background. He served on the board of AtlantiCare for more than a dozen years before taking the top spot and served on the board of the American Hospital Association.
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With a strong foundation in global health and public health — shaped by her work with the World Health Organization — Cohen has been instrumental in shifting Englewood Health’s focus beyond the hospital walls. She clinically leads efforts in population health management and preventive health, with particular attention to addressing health disparities and the social determinants of health.
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Bergen New Bridge’s Depression Center of Excellence offers new hope for those struggling with depression that hasn’t improved with traditional treatments. Led by Coklar, an experienced and compassionate attending psychiatrist, the expert team provides cutting-edge, evidence-based therapies and highly personalized, outpatient care that prioritizes patient dignity and long-term recovery.
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Responsible for the day-to-day operations of RWJBH and chair of the strategic planning council of executive leaders across all system service lines and sectors, his oversight includes the system’s medical group, as well as the integration of the behavioral health service line with Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care.
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Ehtisham, who was named the new CEO of Atlantic Health in June, is a distinguished leader who has guided and transformed health care organizations for more than two decades. He most recently served as a senior leader with Novant Health, an integrated care delivery network in North Carolina.
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Foley is responsible for the overall strategic direction, operational performance and clinical excellence of all specialty hospitals and clinical specialty services across HMH, including the operations at Carrier Clinic, Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, Long Term Acute Care Hospital at Raritan Bay, nursing, rehabilitation, pharmacy, imaging, laboratory, EMS/transfer center, transformation and the Integration Management Office.
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He leads one of the strongest health systems in the state. Englewood, whose efforts extend beyond Hudson County, recently was ranked among the Top 10 in New Jersey and Top 25 in the metro area by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, it was rated as “high performing” in eight procedures and conditions.
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Bergen New Bridge has long focused on restoring function, relieving pain and enhancing quality of life in every way. Under the expert care of Hanna, it offers Botox treatments to manage spasticity in patients recovering from stroke — helping them regain mobility, reduce discomfort and restore independence.
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Heath leads Samaritan, the recognized leader in hospice care in Southern New Jersey. Samaritan’s life-enhancing Care Pathways initiative also includes palliative medicine, primary care, social connections and the Boccolini Institute, which is advancing the field of palliative care through education, research and innovation.
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Helmy is one of the top executive leaders in the state. The former chief of staff to Gov. Phil Murphy (and former U.S. senator) leads all interactions with all federal, state and local governments, governmental agencies and associates, chiefly managing regulatory issues and developing and executing cross-divisional governmental relations strategies and external communications.
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Hirsch, a highly regarded health care executive whose career spans over 40 years, has served as CEO of Saint Peter’s Healthcare System since 2017. In January, he began a three-year term on the board of trustees for the American Hospital Association, the policymaking body of the AHA.
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Holecek is the driving force behind all nursing-related patient care services at RWJBarnabas Health and oversees a nursing staff of more than 11,000 individuals. She leads the system’s nursing initiatives in strategic planning, fiscal decisions, patient satisfaction, care coordination and quality, and builds and sustains an exceptional nursing workforce to benefit the communities served.
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The chief of neurology at Cooper, he is an expert in interventional and noninterventional treatment for the entire spectrum of stroke and cerebrovascular disorders. He was one of the nation’s first interventional neurologists, a medical subspecialty that uses minimally invasive technologies to treat strokes, carotid stenosis, intracranial aneurysm and arteriovenous malformations.
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Leader of newly created system, which has hospitals in Hudson County: Secaucus, Bayonne, Hoboken and Jersey City. Already the fourth-largest system in the state, HRH will have a network comprising more than 5,000 employees and 1,500 affiliated physicians aimed at delivering consistent, connected and cutting-edge care.
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Her legal background and two decades of health care experience position her at the forefront of innovation. Lienhardt’s intimate understanding of corporate and regulatory matters at both the federal and state levels and natural business intuition have allowed her to create competitive, compliant and attractive alignment structures unlike any model in the marketplace.
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The rare leader who balances world-class surgical skill with big-picture strategy, Lombardi is internationally known for advancing vascular care — yet still scrubs in to keep patients at the center of his work. As chief physician executive, he’s the bridge between frontline teams and executive leadership, always pushing for innovation grounded in real clinical need.
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Highly regarded in health care (and political) circles around the state, Lozano helps lead the numerous transformational growth initiatives in the system — while also serving as head of HMH’s real estate portfolio, strategic partnerships, international relationships and marketing and communications departments.
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Highly regarded leader of Southern New Jersey health system that is expanding in geography and physical size. It recently held a topping-off ceremony for a 168,000-square-foot addition that will allow Inspira to expand and enhance services such as oncology, neurology, cardiology, maternity care and more.
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She oversees the human resource function of one of the largest organizations in the state (more than 40,000 employees), spearheading the implementation of the department’s transformation initiative, “One HR,” while working with leadership to refine and leverage the health system’s people processes in line with the new organizational model and growing enterprise.
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Longtime leader is heart-and-soul of Teaneck-based system that is a leader in providing quality care — and access — in Bergen County and around the world. Its efforts in Haiti (where it has operated Hôpital Sacré-Coeur since the earthquake in 2010) continues to be the gold standard of giving.
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Co-leader is one of the few hospital CEOs that actually is a doctor (he’s board certified in emergency medicine). Mazzarelli’s influence shows as Cooper recently was rated as “High Performing” — the highest designation awarded by U.S. News & World Report — in 14 adult specialties and conditions.
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No health system in the state has as many different initiatives — both inside the hospital walls and out — going at the same time. It’s a reason why HMH is so highly decorated. McCauley deftly keeps everything moving in the right direction.
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A recent appointee to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Economic and Community Advisory Council, Moore oversees operations across the network’s four hospitals, health centers and ambulatory locations and the implementation of Inspira’s three-year strategic plan, including construction and expansion projects such as the current $257 million expansion at Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill.
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She leads a Pennsylvania-based health system that has signed a nonbinding Letter of Intent with Virtua to explore a not-for-profit system serving New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. If finalized, the system would include 600 sites of care, including hospitals and outpatient offices, and approximately 30,000 employees.
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He is co-leader of a system that not only is expanding more deeply into Southern New Jersey, but showing it is the best health care system in the region in the process. Recent U.S. News & World Report rankings have Cooper as No. 11 in the Philadelphia metro, No. 7 in New Jersey and No. 1 in South Jersey.
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Hospital, annually ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the state (it was No. 2 this year), was ranked No. 9 in the New York City metro area by U.S. News & World Report. It also was judged as being tops in the state for orthopedics and gastroenterology.
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As the senior finance executive of one of the state’s two large academic health systems, Pipas ensures the delivery of exceptional care to eight counties and 5 million people. He plays a pivotal role at RWJBarnabas Health, harmonizing processes across facilities to support the system’s unified operating model.
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He is a recognized thought leader on health care (and the business of health care) and it shows. Through collaborations with Rowan University — and a potential merger with Pennsylvania-based ChristianaCare — Pullin is showing a willingness to be proactive in a health care landscape that quickly is changing.
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Uniquely qualified CEO — he has an M.D. and an MBA — Riccio has kept the health system moving forward (it’s a leader in technology) and expanding (it recently opened a new healing center) while staying true to its Catholic roots and its faith-based mission to help the community it serves achieve the highest level of physical, mental and spiritual health.
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Overlook jumped to No. 3 overall in the state and No. 14 in the New York City area. And it’s not only getting better, it’s getting bigger: In January, it completed a three-story, 78,000-square-foot addition to the hospital’s East Building (to accommodate maternity care, cardiology, critical care and neuroscience services).
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It was one of only four teaching hospitals in New Jersey to make the Leapfrog Group’s “Top Hospital” list for quality and patient safety — but that’s not surprising. The 358-bed regional tertiary-care, teaching and research center in the heart of Newark has the latest diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and leading-edge research.
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Highly regarded veteran executive is responsible for the strategic operations of this 665-bed regional care teaching hospital that is home to one of the nation’s 10 most active heart transplant centers, which has performed more than 1,000 heart transplants, and RWJBarnabas Health’s Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant Program.
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With nearly 50 years of clinical experience as a radiation oncologist, Vialotti has dedicated the second half of his career to reshaping health policy in the state around improved hospice and palliative care. He helped create one of the state’s first hospice programs, which has since evolved into a national model for end-of-life care.
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She was named the top female executive in the state earlier this year — and for good reason. Visconi not only is CEO of the largest hospital in New Jersey, her servant leadership style and commitment to mission has led one of the top hospital turnarounds in the country since she took the top job in 2017.
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He leads HMH’s Population Health Division, overseeing the Medicare Shared Savings Accountable Care Organization, the clinically integrated network Hackensack Meridian Health Partners, managed care and health insurance partnerships. Under Young’s leadership, HMH’s clinically integrated network has expanded significantly, growing from under 800 providers in 2015 to more than 4,000 today.
