For Immediate Release
June 27, 2008
Contact: Jesse J. Carrajat
(732) 751-7519
jcarrajat@meridianhealth.com

TWO MERIDIAN HEALTH NURSES RECEIVE GOVERNOR’S NURSING MERIT AWARD

13th Consecutive Year A Meridian Nurse Has Received State’s Top Nursing Recognition

Neptune, NJ - Two Meridian Health nurses were recently honored for their achievements in nursing at the 20th annual Governor’s Nursing Merit Awards. For the 13th consecutive year, a Meridian Health nurse has been awarded the prestigious recognition. The ceremony was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Princeton on Thursday, June 5.

Nominated by their peers, the Governor’s Nursing Merit Award recipients are selected from among the over 109,000 licensed state nurses practicing in the areas of patient care, nurse education, nursing research, administration, management, and community health. This year, only 13 recipients were selected to receive the honor.

This year’s recipients included Rebecca Grabosso, R.N., MSN, nurse practitioner at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, who received the award in the category of Advanced Practice, and Phyllis Begyn, R.N., MSN, nurse manager of Inpatient Oncology at Ocean Medical Center in Brick, who received the Governor's Award in the category of nurse manager.

“Rebecca and Phyllis are outstanding role models for their fellow nurses and team members, and are each instrumental in the continued quality patient care provided by our nursing team,” says John K. Lloyd, president and CEO of Meridian Health. “We are proud to have such extraordinary nurses and it was an honor to celebrate their accomplishments.”

Since 1989, the Governor’s Nursing Merit Award Advisory Committee has recognized the states most distinguished nurses through an awards program in which the governor honors individual excellence and achievement in the nursing profession. Each year, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services host an annual ceremony in an effort to publicly recognize nurses for their vital contributions to the New Jersey healthcare system. The ceremony provides an opportunity to honor those individuals with the innate ability of combining scientific advancement, individual care, and human compassion while administering quality health-care in the Garden State.

Meridian Health is a family of not-for-profit health care organizations comprising Jersey Shore University Medical Center and K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital in Neptune, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, as well as home care agencies, skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities, ambulatory care, ambulance services, and occupational health services located throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties. Meridian Health was the first health organization in the nation to achieve the prestigious Magnet designation for its nursing staff at each of its partner hospitals and has been named one of the best places to work in New Jersey for four consecutive years.

· ·

####