No. 6: Barry Ostrowsky

Eleven acute care hospitals, three children’s hospitals, a pediatric rehabilitation hospital and multiple outpatient facilities, ambulatory care centers, geriatric centers, a free-standing behavioral health center, and New Jersey’s largest statewide behavioral health network all have something in common: They’re all under the RWJBarnabas Health umbrella, led by Ostrowsky as president and CEO since 2016.

Also within the system are a satellite emergency department, trauma centers, comprehensive home care and hospice programs, pharmacy services, multi-site imaging centers, an accountable care organization and the Combined Medical Group of RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Health with nearly 3,000 providers and clinical staff.

Through Ostrowsky’s leadership, RWJBarnabas Health has expanded and strengthened its efforts to address equity and systemic racism and promote an antiracist culture throughout the organization and the communities it serves through its Ending Racism Together initiative, which is focused on creating racial, ethnic and cultural equity by prioritizing communities that are most disenfranchised and experience poor health, and social, economic and educational outcomes due to the generational effects of racism.

In March 2021 Ostrowski was named to the New Jersey Health Care Affordability Advisory Group. The committee’s objective is to advise the Health Care Affordability Interagency Workgroup, chaired by the Director of the Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency, Shabnam Salih, on the development and implementation of health care cost growth benchmarks. The benchmarks provide an opportunity for increased oversight and accountability and will further advance the Administration’s efforts to provide more accessible, affordable, and transparent health care to New Jerseyans and their families. “RWJBarnabas Health is committed to ensuring that health care is not only of the highest quality, but also more affordable for all,” Ostrowsky said.

Ostrowksy has also raised RWJBarnabas’ public profile through partnerships with a variety of prominent institutions and organizations. One of those partnerships is with Rutgers University sports.

Athletic Director Pat Hobbs and men’s basketball head coach Steve Pikiell recently described the importance of that backing, which helped build a new training facility,to a Rutgers fan web site. “I have to credit all the Rutgers folks who contributed to the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center,” Hobbs said. “I spoke with Barry Ostrowsky earlier … I thanked him. ‘We don’t get here without you.’”