Hackensack Meridian Health Chief Operating Officer Mark Stauder recently began his term as 2025 board chair for the New Jersey Hospital Association.

NJHA installed Stauder, chief operating officer for HMH, Jan. 30 during the organization’s annual meeting, held at the NJHA Conference Center in Princeton. He also serves as president of the Hospitals and Health Services Divisions at Hackensack Meridian.

Founded in 1918, NJHA’s membership includes 400 members from across the New Jersey health care community, including hospitals, health systems and post-acute care providers. The group aims to improve the health of Garden State residents.

Stauder succeeds 2024 Chair Bill Arnold, CEO of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and executive vice president and president of the Southern Region of RWJBarnabas Health.

Under Stauder as board chair, the full slate of NJHA Board officers for 2025 includes:

• Vice Chair Deborah Visconi, president and CEO, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center
• Treasurer Dr. Robert  Brenner, president and CEO, Valley Health System
• Secretary Patricia O’Keefe, president, Morristown Medical Center, Atlantic Health System, and senior vice president and chief nursing officer for AHS

Speaking during the annual meeting, Stauder highlighted the contributions of NJHA’s members, including $31.4 billion in economic impact throughout the state; $3.5 billion invested in health communities; and 158,000 hospital employees serving patients across 18 million instances each year.

He also described a time of uncertainty for the health care system, while offering gratitude and confidence in the provider community’s commitment to care.

“Each of us are fighting for a foothold in these difficult times,” said Stauder. “But we also share a commitment to a greater good – access to high quality, equitable care for every person in every community.

On ‘the frontlines’

NJHA President and CEO Cathy Bennett also discussed “seismic” shifts in health care policy under the new Trump administration, as well well as the potential for change under a new governor following state elections in November. She cited potential shifts in consumers’ insurance coverage and access to care, the health care workforce, payments to providers under Medicaid and Medicare, the health care supply chain, community health, social determinants of health and more.

“Health care organizations are on the frontlines. We witness the impact on the lives of New Jerseyans. And all too often we are the last line of defense for those at risk,” said Bennett. “There is no industry that can match us for the bedrock commitment we make to New Jersey’s well-being.”

The following health care leaders also were appointed as new trustees serving on the NJHA Board:

Aaron Chang, president of Jefferson Health East Region; David Hughes, president of Shore Medical Center; Dr. Dustin Riccio, president and CEO, St. Joseph’s Health; John Doll, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, RWJBarnabas Health; Dr. Alan Sickles, CEO of Saint Michael’s Medical Center; Sparta; and associate board member Kenneth Esser Jr., executive vice president, behavioral health and president, Carrier Clinic, Hackensack Meridian Health.