Robert C. Garrett has served as president and CEO of Hackensack (N.J) University Health Network and Hackensack University Medical Center since November 2009.
Before becoming the permanent leader, Mr. Garrett served as the acting president and CEO for about five months during a nationwide search for a new president and CEO. He eventually earned the permanent position on Nov. 4, 2009. He has been with HackensackUMC since 1981.
Since he has taken the helm at HackensackUMC, the hospital has received numerous awards and recognitions of excellence. Most recently, in 2012, the hospital was ranked as the number one hospital in New Jersey by U.S. News & World Report. It has also been named a Leapfrog Top Hospital for patient safety, received 19 gold seals of approval from the Joint Commission and named on Becker's Hospital Review's list of 100 Hospitals With Great Women's Health Programs.
Additionally, the hospital has grown under Mr. Garrett's leadership. In 2011, the Heart & Vascular Hospital opened as a "hospital within a hospital." The new addition is dedicated to patients with cardiac and vascular disease. The John Theurer Cancer Center, an outpatient facility for cancer patients at HackensackUMC, also opened in 2011.
Since 2009, on a network-wide level, Mr. Garrett has overseen strategic, clinical and academic affiliations that strengthened the Hackensack University Health Network. On the clinical side, the network formed an affiliation with MinuteClinic, the retail healthcare division of CVS Caremark, in 2012 to expand care options for the network's patients.
Mr. Garrett's personal prowess as a healthcare leader has been recognized by multiple outlets. Becker's Hospital Review named him as one of 300 Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know in 2012, and he was ranked as the second most powerful business leader in New Jersey by NJBIZ this year.
For all of the success that he has personally achieved, Mr. Garrett says he is most proud of his team's accomplishments. "I'm so proud of our extraordinarily talented healthcare team at Hackensack University Health Network. These men and women work tirelessly to produce outstanding quality outcomes for our patients and the communities we serve."
Mr. Garrett received a master's degree in health administration from Washington University in St. Louis.
If you have additional information or updates for this profile, or would like to recommend a leader to be profiled in the future, please contact Lindsey Dunn, editor in chief, Becker's Hospital Review at ldunn@beckershealthcare.com.
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