Tag: new jersey

New Jersey Loosens Regulations to Expand Medical Marijuana Access

New Jersey-based executive John Klein serves as the chairman of Cambridge Therapeutics. In addition to overseeing operations at Cambridge Therapeutics, John Klein takes an active interest in developments concerning health care and health policy.

New Jersey officials announced new rules intended to expand access to the state’s medical marijuana program, following the directive set in an executive order by Governor Phil Murphy. In addition to removing bureaucratic hurdles for young patients, the new policies will allow patients with a wider variety of diseases and ailments to access medical marijuana.

Taking effect May 20, 2019, the reforms also relax some of the regulations governing businesses that grow, produce, and sell medicinal cannabis. Other policies already in effect but now codified include reducing medical cannabis costs for patients and permitting doctors to prescribe medical marijuana without being named publicly as a physician participating in the program.

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New Jersey Takes Steps to Reduce Maternal Mortality

 

Maternal Mortality
Image: webmd.com

An accomplished pharmaceutical executive, John Klein leads New Jersey-based Cambridge Therapeutics as chairman. Aside from steering the development of Cambridge Therapeutics, John Klein maintains an active interest in following health-related developments impacting residents of New Jersey and beyond.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently signed a package of bills aimed at reducing the state’s extremely high maternal mortality rate. In particular, the bills aim to address racial disparities in health care: throughout the nation, African American mothers are more than four times more likely than white women to die of complications related to pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum recovery. “In a state that is among the very wealthiest in our nation,” said Governor Murphy, “these disparities stand in stark contrast to our core values.”

The bill signings occurred one day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report concluding that nearly half of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. One provision in the newly signed New Jersey bills requires Medicaid to cover doula services, a birth support role that has been shown to improve birth outcomes. Another provision discourages the scheduling of cesarean sections before the baby is full term out of convenience rather than necessity.

Nationwide Report Gives Highest Grade to New Jersey Hospitals

Cambridge Therapeutics founder and chairman John Klein directs the innovative work of a Teaneck, New Jersey-based team dedicated to producing next-generation medical devices and health care products. Outside of his pursuits with Cambridge Therapeutics, he supports nonprofit organizations focused on health care, education, and the public good. John Klein also serves as a trustee with Hackensack Meridian Health Hospitals, a network that consistently receives high rankings for its quality of care.

In 2018, the local news outlet NJ.com amplified a report analyzing the safety of hospitals nationwide and noting how the medical facilities in New Jersey had ranked. The NJ.com article’s lead noted the good news that New Jersey’s hospitals as a group earned more top ratings for safety than the hospitals of any other state.

Thirty-eight of the 67 New Jersey hospitals surveyed – including eight facilities in the HMH network – received a grade of “A.”

Produced under the branding of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade organization, the report was six years in the making, as an expert panel evaluated hospitals in terms of their ability to keep patients secure from infections, injuries, and staff errors.

Among the other recent accolades that HMH has received is a 2018-19 U.S. News & World Report ranking as one of the state’s two best hospitals overall.

Report Urges Broadening Access to Health Care Services in New Jersey

John Klein functions as the chairman of Cambridge Therapeutics in Teaneck, New Jersey. In addition to his pursuits with Cambridge Therapeutics, John Klein serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Hackensack Meridian Health Hospitals and keeps apprised of developments in the state of health care in his region through various news outlets.

In April 2019, NJSpotlight’s online “Healthcare” section summarized a major new report on the health care landscape in New Jersey that additionally offered insights into the best ways for the state’s policymakers to improve the quality and equitable delivery of medical care.

Entitled “Building a Culture of Health,” this report was created with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Rutgers University.

It notes that, despite New Jersey’s advances in providing strong family leave programs for workers, high-quality early childhood education, and public education campaigns that have helped reduce smoking rates, a disturbing number of disparities in health care distribution remain across ethnicity, income, geography, and social class. The report estimates that close to 6,500 people die needlessly in the state every year due to such barriers to access.

The report consists of more than one dozen specific recommendations to officials planning health care policy, urging them to fund targeted improvements. The first item on the list involves upgrading the quality of maternal and infant care. Others given high priority include strengthening overall community health by ensuring that at-risk families can access quality housing, education, and paid family leave benefits.

New Jersey Strengthens Behavioral Health Partnerships

Drawing on his extensive background in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, John Klein serves as the chairman of Cambridge Therapeutics. Aside from providing strategic direction to Cambridge Therapeutics, John Klein serves as a trustee for New Jersey’s Hackensack Meridian Health network.

New Jersey officials recently have undertaken several initiatives to improve mental health care in the state. For instance, Hackensack Meridian Health, a network of 16 hospitals and hundreds of outpatient physician offices, has formed a new partnership with Carrier Clinic, a long-standing addiction-treatment agency, to provide integrated behavioral healthcare for its patients.

In addition, the state is working to make it easier for children with emotional and behavioral issues to receive appropriate health care. New Jersey has developed nine regional hospital-based programs that connect pediatricians with behavioral-health providers for advice on diagnoses and treatment. With new funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and The Nicholson Foundation, the state plans to invest an additional $2.3 million into programs that integrate pediatric behavioral health.