No Vaccine, No Job: 118 NJ Hospital Network Employees Fired No Vaccine, No Job: 118 NJ Hospital Network Employees Fired
No Vaccine, No Job: 118 NJ Hospital Network Employees Fired More than 100 employees of New Jersey's largest health care system were fired for refusing to comply with its COVID vaccination policy, officials said. RWJBarnabas Health gave employees a deadline of Oct. 15 to receive the shots, and 118 of them apparently did not, news reports say. “Regrettably, and despite all best efforts, 118 staff members have not complied with the mandate and are no longer employees of RWJBarnabas Health, per our vaccine mandate policy,” a spokeswoman told NJ Advance Media in a statement. Of those employees, 62 were per diem who worked occasional shifts throughout th…
$6.2M Settlement Reached After Deadly Outbreak At NJ Nursing Home Kills 11, Sickens 35 $6.2M Settlement Reached After Deadly Outbreak At NJ Nursing Home Kills 11, Sickens 35
$6.2M Settlement Reached After Deadly Outbreak At NJ Nursing Home Kills 11, Sickens 35 A $6.2 million settlement was reached for 13 families including several who had children die due to a viral outbreak at a New Jersey healthcare facility in 2018. Thirty-five children were infected and 11 died of the adenovirus at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, accused in a wrongful death suit of failing to immediately notify families of the virus, NJ Advance Media reports. The home is accused of waiting too long to transfer the kids to the hospital -- even at families' requests. The healthcare center was fined $600,000 by the US Centers for Medicare and Medica…
OSHA: NJ Group Home Operator Failed To Guard Workers From Coronavirus Outbreaks OSHA: NJ Group Home Operator Failed To Guard Workers From Coronavirus Outbreaks
Osha: NJ Group Home Operator Failed To Guard Workers From Coronavirus Outbreaks A New Jersey company failed to protect its workers from potentially deadly exposure to the coronavirus pandemic, a federal agency said. Oaks Integrated Care, based in Burlington County, provides healthcare in 19 counties for mental illness, developmentally disabilities and addictions, including group home residents. One worker at Oaks' Bock Bay group home in Howell and a worker at the Pat LeBon Center in Lumberton allegedly were exposed to COVID-19 at those facilities, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Both Oaks workers later died of the virus, OSHA said.  I…
HEROES: Port Authority Police Rescue Stricken Woman At Newark Airport HEROES: Port Authority Police Rescue Stricken Woman At Newark Airport
Heroes: Port Authority Police Rescue Stricken Woman At Newark Airport A Newark Airport traveler was shaking violently, the left side of her face drooping, when Port Authority Police Officers Mark Burkhardt and Jason Nielsen responded to a cleaner’s urgent call for help. Thinking she was having a stroke or seizure, the officers helped with the woman’s breathing and monitored her vitals until paramedics arrived. Command officers hadn’t realized the severity of Lisa Kirby’s situation until her husband called to thank them, Port Authority spokeswoman Lenis Valens said. It turned out she’d suffered a brain aneurism, Valens said. “If there was one missing link, m…
'Raise Your Sleeves': Six Vaccine Mega Sites Coming Next Month To New Jersey 'Raise Your Sleeves': Six Vaccine Mega Sites Coming Next Month To New Jersey
'Raise Your Sleeves': Six Vaccine Mega Sites Coming Next Month To New Jersey Six vaccine "mega sites" are expected to open across New Jersey in early January, Gov. Phil Murphy announced during Friday's COVID-19 briefing. The sites will be able to inoculate frontline healthcare workers, and will accommodate essential workers before moving to adults over the age of 65 and those with high-risk medical conditions. The news comes three days after a nurse at University Hospital in Newark became the first New Jersey resident to receive Pfizer's vaccine. Since then, "healthcare heroes" have been vaccinated at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, Atlant…
Stop & Shop Hiring For More Than 5,000 Positions Stop & Shop Hiring For More Than 5,000 Positions
Stop & Shop Hiring For More Than 5,000 Positions Stop & Shop is looking to fill more than 5,000 regional positions. The available positions across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are permanent and include store roles in bakery, deli, grocery, seafood, produce, front end, night crew and online pickup.  Stop & Shop is also hiring home delivery drivers and shoppers, as well as selectors at its distribution centers. These 5,000 new positions are in addition to the 5,000 Stop & Shop sought to fill at the start of the pandemic in March.  In total, Stop & Shop has invested more than …
COVID-19: More Than Dozen NJ Hospitals, Nursing Homes Cited For Violations COVID-19: More Than Dozen NJ Hospitals, Nursing Homes Cited For Violations
Covid-19: More Than Dozen NJ Hospitals, Nursing Homes Cited For Violations More than a dozen New Jersey hospitals and nursing homes were issued citations from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for violations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 14 New Jersey facilities are among 37 ticketed nationwide, resulting in proposed penalties totaling $484,069.   New Jersey had more hospitals cited than any other state, totaling $252,150. Hospitals and nursing homes issued violations and their penalties include: Valley Hospital Inc., Ridgewood, $8,675 Valley Physician Services Inc., Waldwick, $…
Make-A-Wish Foundation Grants Critically Ill Bergen County Girl, 3, Special Backyard Play Set Make-A-Wish Foundation Grants Critically Ill Bergen County Girl, 3, Special Backyard Play Set
Make-a-wish Foundation Grants Critically Ill Bergen County Girl, 3, Special Backyard Play Set A young Bergen County girl battling two life-threatening tumors had her dream come true when she received a backyard play set — courtesy of Jersey Mike’s Subs and Make-A-Wish. Riley, 3, has always loved playing on the playground near her Tenafly home, according to her parents, Jason and Nicole. The family was devastated when doctors diagnosed the young girl with both a brain tumor and a back tumor in January. She spent more than three months in the hospital undergoing four major surgeries as well as chemotherapy before her tumor returned — all in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “P…
Doctors On Netflix Show 'Lenox Hill' Rid NJ Grandmother, 89, Of Massive Head Tumor Doctors On Netflix Show 'Lenox Hill' Rid NJ Grandmother, 89, Of Massive Head Tumor
Doctors On Netflix Show 'Lenox Hill' Rid NJ Grandmother, 89, Of Massive Head Tumor For 25 years, Lorenza De La Villa of Teaneck barely noticed the small tumor in the back of her head. She found it in 1995, when she was 64 years old.  It was benign. It didn't hurt. It never grew. "She did what doctors told her to do," said one of De La Villa's 22 grandchildren, Michelle Tavares, of Weehawken. "She went for MRIs every year and saw a neurologist every six months. "Since it wasn't growing, causing pain or neurological impairment, doctors didn't have her do anything about it." For 25 years, that's the way things were. De La Villa's "little egg" rarely crossed her …
Burlington County Hospital ER Patients Transferred After Fire Damages Virtua Health Facility Burlington County Hospital ER Patients Transferred After Fire Damages Virtua Health Facility
Burlington County Hospital ER Patients Transferred After Fire Damages Virtua Health Facility A small fire broke out at a Burlington County hospital on Friday night, and about eight emergency room patients had to be transferred to another hospital, authorities said. ew ER patients were  No patients or staff were hurt during the fire, said Daniel Moise, a spokesman for Virtua Marlton Hospital in Evesham. Incoming ER pateints were temporarily diverted to other hospitals, Moise said.  The fire was reported about 8:20 p.m. at 90 Brick Road, Evesham police said.  Virtua Health security personnel extinguished the contained fire within the "sterile processing department,"&n…
Health Aide Charged With Sexually Abusing Patient, 84, At Jersey Shore Nursing Home Health Aide Charged With Sexually Abusing Patient, 84, At Jersey Shore Nursing Home
Health Aide Charged With Sexually Abusing Patient, 84, At Jersey Shore Nursing Home A health aide sexually abused an 84-year-old patient at an Ocean County long-term care facility, state authorities said. Authorities charged Michael A. Edwards, 32, of Manchester with aggravated sexual contact after officials at the Sunrise Senior Living facility in Jackson told police that another employee caught him “inappropriately touching an elderly woman in her room at the facility,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Edwards – also known as Michael Donaldson – was released pending court action and fired from the job, Grewal said. The state Division of Consumer Affairs al…
COVID-19 Concerns Block Kidney Transplant For Popular Bergen Baker, Now His Life’s At Stake COVID-19 Concerns Block Kidney Transplant For Popular Bergen Baker, Now His Life’s At Stake
Covid-19 Concerns Block Kidney Transplant For Popular Bergen Baker, Now His Life’s At Stake Franklin Lakes baker Tom Minardi was all set to get the kidney he needs to stay alive when a suspension of elective surgeries in New Jersey in response to the coronavirus pandemic postponed the procedure. Then came word that the donor backed out. A man who has spent his life doing for others now needs a hero of his own. “He was scheduled to have his transplant this spring,” Minardi’s children wrote in a post, “but due to COVID-19, it was put on hold.” “When his hospital began to schedule transplants again, we unexpectedly and sadly got the call that his donor backed out,” they wrote. “He …