News Release
For Release: April 18, 2009
Contact: Linda Cofer  201-259-5072

Orange Launches Health and Wellness Alliance for Senior Citizens in Conjunction With the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and the Saint Barnabas Healthcare System

Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. announced today that Orange is embarking on a pilot project of health education services, preventative health care and primary medical care for senior citizens. In cooperation with Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and the Saint Barnabas Healthcare system, Orange will establish a once weekly Mini Health Clinic in Oakwood towers, the largest senior citizen complex in Orange.

Hawkins made the announcement at the city’s annual senior citizens luncheon, held at D& K Buffet, 560 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd East Orange, NJ on Saturday April 18th at noon.

The clinic will be staffed with physicians, nurses, pharmaceutical support, physical therapists, social workers and other medical specialists on a rotating basis. Services such as MRIs and X-rays that are not available at the clinic will be provided at Beth Israel and the Alliance is working on establishing transportation from the clinic to Beth Israel A Senior Wellness Action Team (SWAT) will provide an exercise program as part of this initiative. The pilot program is a prototype for similar clinics that the City hopes to establish in other senior buildings. Each building would have a program tailored to the individual needs of its residents.

Residents of the  senior complex were surveyed last month and indicated that they wanted to  be able to see a doctor and other health care clinicians without having to  travel outside the complex.

Statement by Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.
“I am very excited to be able to offer this unique initiative to the senior citizens of Orange. In conjunction with Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and the Saint Barnabas Healthcare System, this program will help fill the void left by the closing of Orange Memorial Hospital. The partnership, operating under the name Orange Health and Wellness Alliance (O.H.W.A) will target our senior population in an effort to provide them with quality health care.

“I want to give special thanks to the Oakwood Avenue Tenants Association, Property Manager April Wilson, and the Oakwood Towers management for allowing us to partner with them for the good of their residents.
Special thanks also to John Brennan, MD, Executive Director, Newark Beth Israel Medical  Center and Children's Hospital of New Jersey; Robert G. Lahita MD, PhD, Vice President and Chairman of Medicine Newark Beth Israel Medical Center who will be coordinating the physicians in the program, and Mr. Darrel Terry, Senior Vice President of Operations at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center who will be overseeing the Alliance”

Statement by John A. Brennan, MD, Executive Director, Newark Beth Israel Medical  Center and Children's Hospital of New Jersey.

"This exciting new collaborative program with Mayor Hawkins and the City of Orange will  provide much-needed primary care, screenings, health and wellness  programs and a host of health care services to those who need it the most. We are committed to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care possible. The residents of Oakwood Towers said they wanted healthcare to come to them, so we agreed to provide the on-site services of a physician, nurse, physical  therapist and a pharmacist."

Statement by April Moore, Property Manager
"Oakwood Towers puts the health and well being of it's resident's first"
We look forward to this new healthcare program.

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Newark Beth Israel Medical Center,  a 673-bed regional care, teaching hospital established in 1901, provides  comprehensive health care services to its local communities and is a major  referral and treatment center for patients throughout  the New  Jersey and  the metropolitan  area. With more than 800 physicians, 2,800 employees and 200 volunteers, the Medical Center  has over 300,000 outpatient visits and 27,000 admissions annually. With 100,000 Emergency Department visits annually, Newark Beth has the busiest Emergency Department in  Newark.  

The hospital's Center for Geriatric  Health Care has a Geriatric House Calls Program that provides medical  evaluation, lab work, referral services, podiatry, optometry, radiology, social  work and home care services. They also provide exercise, health and wellness,  pain management, nutrition, adult daycare, a senior health membership  program and other services vital to the senior  population.

The Saint Barnabas Health Care System’s 19,500  employees, 4,750 physicians and 443 residents provide treatment and  services for more than 225,000 inpatients and same day surgery patients, 450,000  Emergency Department patients and over 1.5 million outpatients each year, and deliver more than 17,500 babies annually.