FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Violeta Peters
Chief Executive Officer of Specialty Hospitals
732-923-5037
SPECIALTY HOSPITALS BRING ABOARD CLINICAL DIRECTORS
TO LEAD TEAMS AT BOTH HOSPITAL-IN-HOSPITAL FACILITIES
LAKEWOOD, NJ, March 9, 2006 — AcuteCare Health System (ACHS) Specialty
Hospitals has named clinical directors with proven records in health care
management at both its “hospital-within-a-hospital” facilities.
Cindy Lowenstein of Hazlet and LeeAnn Harmon of Manalapan have joined Specialty Hospital at Monmouth and Specialty Hospital at Kimball, respectively. As clinical directors, they hold managerial and operational responsibility over each Specialty Hospital’s full range of clinical services for the treatment of medically complex conditions.
The region’s leading independent provider of extended hospital care, Lakewood-based ACHS operates Specialty Hospital at Monmouth, located within Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, and Specialty Hospital at Kimball, located within Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood. Both 25-bed facilities are state-licensed long term acute care hospitals (LTACHs), which provide an intensive level of care to patients with complex medical conditions that require an extended period of treatment.
“With Cindy and LeeAnn leading each of our clinical teams, we continue to strengthen our leadership role in the delivery of specialized care to patients who require an extended hospital stay of 25 days or more,” says Violeta Peters, chief executive officer of Specialty Hospital at Monmouth and Specialty Hospital at Kimball. “Their expertise will undoubtedly benefit our patients and their families, as everyone works together to ensure that care and support is personally tailored to every patient.
“Much of our success in improving patient outcomes is the result of a high nurse-to-patient ratio — one licensed professional to every four patients — and the fact that our caregivers get to know our patients and their family members over their extended hospital stay,” Peters explains.
Most Specialty Hospital patients have one or more diagnoses that may include cardiovascular or cardiopulmonary disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory or kidney disorders, as well as health problems that require wound care. To meet their comprehensive medical needs, each facility offers the benefits of a more individualized hospital setting, combined with such life-support services as ventilator weaning, complex wound care, parenteral nutrition, respiratory and cardiac monitoring, and dialysis.
Throughout her 23-year career, Lowenstein has extensive experience in developing medical programs, including the launch in 1999 of Wall-based Meridian Health System’s Pediatric Asthma Resource Center. Before joining Specialty Hospital, she served as a clinical nurse specialist in the complex care unit at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank. Lowenstein received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Seton Hall University, South Orange, where she later earned her master’s degree as an adult nurse practitioner. She is certified by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the American Heart Association (AHA) in both basic and advanced cardiac life-support.
For the past 10 years, Harmon has served in clinical and managerial positions in a wide variety of health care settings. Most recently, she served as assistant director of nursing at Amboy Care Center, Perth Amboy. A graduate of the Elizabeth General Medical Center School of Nursing, she is AHA certified in basic and advanced cardiac life-support, and also holds national certifications in asthma care and as a legal nurse consultant. She is a member of the New Jersey State Nurses Association, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the Association of Asthma Educators.
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AcuteCare Health System, LLC, is a privately owned corporation formed in 2002 to establish and manage long term acute care hospitals (LTACHs). An LTACH (pronounced L-tack) provides diagnostic and medical treatment and rehabilitation to patients whose conditions are medically complex and require an average length-of-stay of 25 days or more.
Although ACHS’s Specialty Hospital at Monmouth and Specialty Hospital at Kimball are located within major medical centers, they are independent entities that offer the benefits of a smaller, more individualized hospital setting, combined with such life-support services as ventilator weaning, complex wound care, parenteral nutrition, respiratory and cardiac monitoring, and dialysis.
Patients typically are referred to the Specialty Hospitals through physician, nurse, case manager or social worker referral — from an intensive care unit.
For more information about Specialty Hospital at Monmouth, call 732-923-5037, and Specialty Hospital at Kimball, call 732-942-3597. Visit its Web site at www.acutecarehs.com .