Here are just a few of the ways we're serving our diverse community.
Smile! Awards celebrate oral health
First Lady of the State of New Jersey Tammy Snyder Murphy was the keynote speaker at the inaugural SMILE! Awards, held at Clara Maass Medical Center. The SMILE! Awards are given by the KinderSmile Foundation, a nonprofit pediatric dental community outreach center based in Bloomfield, serving the oral health needs of uninsured and underserved children up to age 17. The awards honored 20 pregnant and postpartum moms from Essex County, primarily Bloomfield, Belleville, Newark, East Orange, Nutley and Montclair, who have graduated from KinderSmile Foundation’s Perinatal Health and Wellness Program. “Giving birth is an exciting time, especially for the graduates of the perinatal and wellness program. Thanks to the KinderSmile Foundation, new and expecting mothers are empowered to improve their health, including their oral health for themselves, their new babies and their entire families, and we are grateful to have such a meaningful and rewarding partnership with the foundation,” says Mary Ellen Clyne, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Clara Maass Medical Center.
New behavioral unit is open
Clara Maass Medical Center (CMMC) recently opened a new, state-of-the-art Behavioral Health Unit specifically designed for patients in need of evaluation by the medical center’s Psychiatric Emergency Screening Service (PESS) team. The new unit has six private patient rooms, a secure area for patient belongings and a private consultation room for the health care team and patient families. The PESS Unit is one of only 25 state-designated Psychiatric Emergency Screening Services located in Emergency Departments around New Jersey. Among the list of services provided through the unit are: crisis intervention, stabilization and treatment; mobile outreach to local residents experiencing acute psychiatric distress; and crisis hotline services. The hotline, at 973.844.4357, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CMMC provides mobile crisis outreach for the following municipalities in Essex County: Belleville, Bloomfield, Caldwell, Cedar Grove, East Orange, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Glen Ridge, Livingston, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair, North Caldwell, Nutley, Orange, Roseland, South Orange, Verona, West Caldwell and West Orange.
Latino Health Advisory Board gets new chair
Margarita Muniz, Executive Director of Family and Community Engagement for Newark Public Schools, was recently appointed as the new Chair of the Advisory Board for the Center of Excellence for Latino Health at Clara Maass Medical Center (CMMC). As Chair, Margarita will lead the Advisory Board in providing strategic guidance, assistance and advice to the medical center’s leadership as it continues to identify ways to provide enhanced health care to the Latino community, which represents more than 40 percent of the CMMC patient population.
Learn more about events at Clara Maass Medical Center.