World-Class Health Care Right In Our Backyard

The days of Norman Rockwell-like doctors with black bags making house calls are forever gone, but the Morris County community still has access to exceptional, personal health care with one of the top hospitals in the nation at its core. Morristown Medical Center, part of Atlantic Health System, is redefining how health care is provided to the tens of thousands of people who look to the hospital each year to keep them healthy or treat them when they are in need. 

​Like other forward-thinking health systems in the nation, Atlantic Health System has been working to make health care more accessible to the community by creating a network of specialist, outpatient and urgent care facilities. Morristown Medical Center expanded its physical footprint to handle the volume of patients requesting these services by adding additional programs, purchasing buildings and additional office space and even adding more parking. 

“It is important to create a longstanding relationship with the community and to work with state and regional agencies, the county government and the local business community to ensure we deliver the best care,” said Trish O’Keefe, PhD, RN, hospital president. “It’s a shift in health care priorities. It’s our mission to care for patients when they’re acutely ill or live with a chronic disease. But we also care for and guide our patients to wellness and preventive care. So it’s a lifelong relationship.” Morristown Medical Center has been providing health care to the Morris County community since incorporating as Morristown Memorial Hospital in 1892. Today the hospital employs more than 6,000 people, including more than 2,200 physicians and care providers, and in 2018 admitted more than 39,000 patients, treated nearly 

​99,000 emergency room visitors and had more than 567,000 outpatient visits. Approximately 11,000 of those outpatient visits each month take place at the Morristown Medical Center Health Pavilion in Rockaway, which opened in 2016. That number is up from 1,000 visits a month when the pavilion opened its doors. “What does that tell us?” O’Keefe asked. “That we’re meeting the health care needs of the Rockway community and surrounding towns – bringing our clinically integrated system to our secondary markets.” Atlantic Health System and Morristown Medical Center also have an Advanced Urgent Care in Mountain Lakes on Rt. 10 and have partnered with urgent care provider MedExpress to open a number of walk-in facilities across the state.

Atlantic Health System hospitals and Atlantic Medical Group practices recently transitioned to the Epic Electronic Medical Record, meaning clinical teams have access to the most up-to-date medical information about patients, improving and streamlining health care in the community, according to O’Keefe. In addition, the hospital works closely with county officials and other stakeholders to identify and fill the health care needs throughout the county.

“We work with our community partners to regularly assess the local health care needs and develop a comprehensive plan collaboratively to respond,” O’Keefe said. Another key element of Morristown Medical Center’s community outreach is its relationship with the business community, according to O’Keefe. The hospital works very closely with businesses throughout the county to provide health screenings, prevention/wellness programs and onsite medical care.

“If we have a healthy business community, we have a thriving community,” O’Keefe said. 
Health care professionals from the hospital also participate on the Health and Wellness Committee of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce and the hospital partners with area colleges and high schools to deliver health care services.

In addition to the care Morristown Medical Center is providing “outside the walls of the hospital,” as O’Keefe says, the medical center is internationally and nationally recognized for its high-quality, positive patient outcomes and exceptional clinical teams in its healing environment.

All this has not gone unnoticed. For the second year in a row Morristown Medical Center has been named the #1 hospital in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. It also was the only hospital in the state to be ranked among the 50 best hospitals in the nation for cardiology and heart surgery (#26) and orthopedics (#34). It was named one of the world’s best hospitals, the 28th best in the United States and the top hospital in New Jersey by Newsweek and one of the “50 Best Hospitals” by Healthgrades four consecutive years.  
 
“With this important recognition there’s a great sense of pride internally and we also know our community is very proud that we have a nationally ranked hospital right here in our back yard,” said O’Keefe, who also serves as the chair of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce. “It is my team’s privilege to be working with my business colleagues to improve the health and wellness of our community,” she added. “It’s an exciting time to be in Morris County.”