Charity Navigator Awards Top Rating to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation

Friday, March 18, 2005

New Brunswick – The Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation, the fundraising arm of RWJUH and its children’s hospital, has received a top rating from Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator.

The hospital Foundation earned Charity Navigator’s highest rating – four stars. Charity Navigator defines recipients of a four-star rating as “exceptional - exceeding industry standards and outperforming most charities in its cause.”

The hospital Foundation ranked in the top one percent nationally in a category that includes hospital charities, medical service charities and medical education charities. Furthermore, the Foundation ranked first in this category in New Jersey, and second overall of all charities in the state.

Foundation Board of Trustees Chairman Michael Maroney, Jr., attributes this recognition to a dedicated team of leaders. “Everyone on the Board, and especially the Finance Committee, are passionate about their volunteer role,” he said. “This award now validates those efforts as the fundraising arm of the Hospital.”

“We are very proud of this honor,” said Bruce Newman, Senior Vice President of Development and Executive Director of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation. “The development staff, as well as the Foundation Board of Trustees, is committed to being fiscally responsible while raising awareness for this fine academic medical center.”

Established in 1981, The Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation raises funds to support program and facility needs at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, one of the nation's leading academic health centers. Since its incorporation, over $47 million have been contributed to support such programs as The Heart Center of New Jersey, The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, nursing research and scholarships, medical and surgical oncology services, and various capital construction and equipment projects.

Charity Navigator, created in 2001, is a nonprofit organization that objectively evaluates the most current financial information provided by charities to the Internal Revenue Service. Charities are rated in two areas: organizational efficiency and organizational capacity. Organizational efficiency looks at how efficiently a charity uses donations, and organizational capacity evaluates how the charity is growing its programs and services. Charity Navigator has evaluated more than 3,500 charities, and new ratings are posted on a monthly basis.

Visit www.rwjuhfdn.org for more information about the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Foundation.

About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Selected as one of three hospitals nationwide to offer the world's first self-contained implantable artificial heart and named by Solucient as one of America’s top 15 teaching hospitals, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is a 600-bed academic medical center and the principal hospital of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ.

Robert Wood Johnson is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care in medicine. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care and women's and children's care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. The hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center and serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.

The hospital has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital was ranked number 26 in the nation for heart care according to U.S.News & World Report’s 2007 ranking of “America’s Best Hospitals,” as well as best in the state for Respiratory Disorders (#26) and Urology (#50), and among the nation’s best for Geriatrics (#40). The American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer has rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital among the nation's best comprehensive cancer centers. The Leapfrog Group rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the 50 exceptional U.S. hospitals, as published in Consumers Digest magazine. Harvard University researchers, in a study commissioned by The Commonwealth Fund, identified Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation for clinical quality. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is also a recipient of the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence for 10 consecutive years.

Attention members of the media: For more information on this release, please contact the Department of Public Relations (732) 937-8521.


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