Hackensack Meridian Health Recognized with National Heart Failure Care Excellence Awards
November 06, 2025
The American Heart Association recognized eight Hackensack Meridian Health medical centers with Get With The Guidelines® - Heart Failure Gold Plus Awards, with Target: Heart Failure and Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll. These quality achievement awards acknowledge the cardiac teams’ commitment to improving outcomes for patients with heart failure, resulting in reduced hospital readmissions and more healthy days at home. The 2025 awards are based on patient care data from 2023 to 2024. The hospitals that received awards include the following:
- Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, NJ
- Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, NJ
- JFK University Medical Center in Edison, NJ
- Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, NJ
- Ocean University Medical Center in Brick, NJ
- Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, NJ
- Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, NJ
- Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, NJ
About 6 million U.S. adults are living with heart failure (HF), a number that is expected to increase to more than 8 million by 2030. Despite the name, HF doesn’t mean that the heart has stopped working – it means the heart is having a hard time pumping blood and oxygen throughout the body. While there’s no cure for HF, patients can live a quality life by working with their health care team to create and stick with a plan that may include medication, symptom monitoring and lifestyle changes.
The Get With The Guidelines - Heart Failure quality achievement award is earned by hospitals that demonstrate a commitment to treating patients according to the most up-to-date guidelines as outlined by the American Heart Association (AHA). Get With The Guidelines puts the expertise of the AHA to work for hospitals nationwide, helping ensure patient care is aligned with the latest research- and evidence-based guidelines.
Each year, program participants qualify for the award recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to providing quality care for HF patients. In addition to following treatment guidelines, Get With The Guidelines participants also provide education to patients to help them manage their HF at home.
“As one of New Jersey’s leading providers of high-quality cardiovascular care, Hackensack Meridian Health is always looking to enhance our services. One way we do so is by adopting into practice the latest proven treatment guidelines,” said Elizabeth A. Maiorana, MBA, MSN, R.N., vice president, Cardiovascular Services, Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH). “This is a distinct honor as all of our participating medical centers were acknowledged with the AHA’s highest HF awards.”
The AHA’s recognition levels recognize the goal of treating patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to core standards of care outlined by the AHA over increasing lengths of time, culminating in two consecutive calendar years for Gold Plus. Hospitals receiving the Target: Heart FailureSM Honor Roll are required to meet specific criteria that improves medication adherence, provides early follow-up care and coordination, and enhances patient education. Hospitals receiving Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor RollTM demonstrate that patients with Type 2 diabetes, who might be at higher risk for complications, receive the most up-to-date, evidence-based care when hospitalized due to heart disease or stroke.
Hackensack University Medical Center is the first-ever New Jersey hospital to be ranked a Top 20 hospital in the nation. It is also ranked #1 in New Jersey and the New York metro area by U.S. News & World Report, 2025–26. HMH is home to New Jersey’s #1 children’s hospital and the state’s only nationally ranked cancer center, the John Theurer Cancer Center.
For information about HMH’s heart failure services, visit www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/services/heart-care/heart-failure. For a free physician referral, call 844-HMH-WELL.