Newark Hospital Names New CEO In Wake Of Scathing Report

NEWARK, NJ — The embattled University Hospital in Newark has a new president/CEO: Judith Persichilli.

Administrators at the state’s only public hospital announced Thursday that Persichilli will take over the reins for John Kastanis, who officially stepped down on Friday.

Kastanis' departure from the helm of the beleaguered hospital comes after repeated calls for shakeups at the facility, which has underperformed on several Leapfrog Group ratings and recently saw three infants contract a bacterial infection and die after receiving care.

• See related article: Newark Hospital Gave CEO Raise As Finances, Ratings Sank
• See related article: 3 Babies Die After Bacterial Outbreak At Newark Hospital

University Hospital administrators said that Persichilli will focus her immediate efforts on the hospital’s “ongoing patient safety and quality of care initiatives,” as well as regulatory requirements, employee safety and employee and community engagement.

The hospital’s board of directors also announced that they have launched a “robust strategic planning process” that will drive the future of the medical facility.

“Over the last several months, we have worked alongside Judy as she prepared her report for charting a new path at University Hospital,” said Board Chair Tanya Freeman. “During that time, it became clear that she is the optimal leader to begin implementing these recommendations.”

Freeman said that University Hospital is a vital public institution.

“We are confident that Judy will lead the organization in this new role toward delivering on its promise of access to high quality care for the City of Newark and surrounding communities,” Freeman said.

Persichilli said that while serving as monitor at University Hospital, she was “very impressed” with the dedicated employees throughout the organization who work hard every day to fulfill the critical mission of the facility.

“I look forward to continuing to work with the entire team and the board on the journey to becoming a high reliability organization with a unified focus on quality and safety, and to identifying a leader who can work with the community to maximize University Hospital’s potential as both an important public institution and a world-class academic medical center,” Persichilli said.

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