Hackettstown Regional Medical Center

Description

Our Mission
quotWe demonstrate Gods care by improving the health of people and communities through a ministry of physical mental and spiritual healingquot

Our Vision
quotA leading resource for innovative patientcentered healthcarequot

Our Values
Adventist HealthCare has identified five core values that we use as a guide in carrying out our daytoday activities the first letter of each value forms the acronym RISES

Respect
We recognize the infinite worth of each individual and care for them as a whole person

Integrity
We are above reproach in everything we do

Service
We provide compassionate and attentive care in a manner that inspires confidence

Excellence
We provide world class clinical outcomes in an environment that is safe for both our patients and caregivers

Stewardship
We take personal responsibility for the efficient and effective accomplishment of our mission

History

Hackettstown Regional Medical Center has been open since 1973 but its beginnings go back to the 1940s when William Rossy and other residents of Hackettstown saw the need for a hospital in their home town

The first recorded plea for a hospital in Hackettstown came in 1945 from Dr Carl Maxwell a local Seventhday Adventist physician Several years passed before a group of Kiwanis Club members and other dedicated individuals formed the Hackettstown Hospital Committee which first met in 1953 In 1955 Tommy Tomeo was president of the local chapter of Unico International an Italian service club of businessmen and professionals Dr Frank Rocco spoke at a chapter meeting about the health care needs of the community and the distressing fact that the nearest hospital was some 20 miles away Tomeo was hooked on the idea of building a hospital and along with 20 other townspeople formed a corporation called Hackettstown Community Hospital and became its first executive committee president They pooled 22500 out of their own pockets to purchase the hospitals 15 acres of land in 1956 and named Dan Allen a local gentleman farmer as Board president

At the time the State of New Jersey considered Hackettstown a lowpriority site for a hospital and would not support even the minimum 25bed hospital that was requested As the trustees persevered the state raised the minimum to 100 beds Banks would not make a loan toward such a large endeavor and ten years slipped away as trustees wrote newspaper articles made speeches and held monthly board meetings The financial roadblock seemed almost insurmountable However as the years passed by the dream of a hospital did not

Then in 1967 the first campaign unofficially began when a conversation between Henry Roehrich a Hackettstown farmer and chairman of one of the two banks in town and Thomas Kopko a Seventhday Adventist pastor and Bible teacher from nearby Garden State Academy turned to a discussion of the worldwide chain of hospitals operated by the Adventists The church a conservative Christian organization operates over 400 medical facilities in some 69 countries ranging from the acclaimed Loma Linda Medical Center in California and 1200bed Florida Hospital in Orlando to boat clinics on the Amazon and mission hospitals in Africa

Banker Roehrich noticed Frank DeLello a member of the original hospital board of directors entering the bank and invited him to join in the conversation about the hospital Mr DeLello then suggested that the Adventist church build a hospital in Hackettstown

Subsequent discussions and events led the hospital board unable to see their way around funding difficulties to invite the SDA church to assume ownership control and management of the hospitaltobe Adventist church officials dispatched Milton Murray to visit Hackettstown and conduct a feasibility study among the townspeople The Adventists and the community then took on the task of financing and building the hospital together as a teamindividuals families small businesses large corporations foundations service clubs and government and SDA church representatives Dr Charles Kwartler served as chairman of fundraising Tommy Tomeo provided invaluable help in discussions with Senator Wayne Dumont who opened the door for Tomeo and Kwartler to meet with State officials Others played key roles over the coming months

Milton Murray was a successful fund raising professional who had conducted capital campaigns for colleges and hospitals throughout the Americas He wasted no time in soliciting the first pledge for the new hospital from Dan Allen in the amount of 50000 Allen dedicated his pledge in memory of his wife whose life he felt might have been saved if a hospital had been nearby Fred Cook owner of a dye making company in town and hospital trustee also agreed to make a pledge from his company which amounted to 80000 perhaps because he experienced a heart attack right after Murrays visit and had to travel seventeen miles of bumpy roads in an ambulance to the nearest hospital in Newton

Iola Rice as health chair of the PTA was originally recruited for the building campaign by Bill Rossy of the Kiwanis Club Rice particularly remembers working handinhand with Betty Fowler a StarGazette reporter to approach quotevery single family in town for funds to build the hospitalquot And she added quotWe all have fond memories of a very very rewarding timequot

In May 1969 the United States Public Health Service awarded the hospital a grant of 500000 under the HillBurton Act With this grant the Adventists pledge of 125 million and the overwhelming generosity of members of the community and area businesses and corporations obstacles were surmounted and the project moved forward Through pledges grants fund drives the quotBucket Brigadequot and other sources amounts large and small poured in The campaign depended heavily on small gifts of 100 and 200 And those contributions made up more than 41 of the monies raised

The aforementioned quotBucket Brigadequot was assembled to catch vacationing and weekend motorists driving through Hackettstown to the Poconos during the summer Civic clubs churches and community groups provided volunteers sometimes dressed up in bandages or hobbling on crutches with quotHelp Our Hospitalquot signs to staff the bucket brigade By the first summers end they had collected more than 25000 and after three summers over 100000 Some motorists complained about the traffic delays that the coin toss caused even suggesting that the state was holding up completion of Interstate 80 until the hospital was built Ironically the hospital officially opened three days before the highway But others especially truckers felt the area needed a good hospital and gave every time they passed through town

At last just weeks after the death of Daniel Allen the groundbreaking was held in August 1970 According to Hospital records 5000 people five times the number expected showed up for the hospitals opening ceremonies On February 23 1973 the doors of Hackettstown Community Hospital were opened to admit people to the longdreamedof 106bed acute care facility