Robert C. Garrett, president and chief executive officer of Hackensack University Health Network, joined Hackensack University Medical Center (HackensackUMC) in 1981 as a resident. He was named executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1986 with a workforce of 3,000 caring for 29,000 inpatients and more than 150,000 outpatients that year.

In May of 2009, Mr. Garrett was named HackensackUMC’s acting president and chief executive officer as a five-month, nationwide search which attracted more than 200 highly-qualified applicants was conducted. The search officially came to an end on November 4, when Mr. Garrett was named as president and chief executive officer of HackensackUMC.

Today, Mr. Garrett serves as president and chief executive officer of the Hackensack University Health Network, the New Jersey-based parent company of HackensackUMC, the HackensackUMC Foundation, Hackensack University Medical Groups, and corporate joint venture partners with LHP Hospital Group (Dallas, TX) in ownership of two hospitals: HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley and HackensackUMC Mountainside. With nearly 10,000 employees and 2,200 credentialed medical staff members at hospitals within the Network, Hackensack University Health Network is the largest healthcare system in northern New Jersey.

HackensackUMC is the flagship hospital of the Network, and Mr. Garrett leads a talented healthcare team for the 775-bed, not-for-profit, tertiary care, and teaching and research institution with nearly 8,000 employees and nearly 1,600 physicians. HackensackUMC is the largest provider of inpatient and outpatient services in the state, and has received some of the most prestigious designations and distinctions from the nation’s leading healthcare ratings companies. HackensackUMC has been named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals™ by Healthgrades® for the seventh year in a row – the only hospital in New Jersey, New York and New England to do so. The medical center was listed as the number one hospital in New Jersey and one of the top three New York metro area hospitals by the U.S. News & World Report for 2013-14, and has received 10 national rankings in: Cancer; Cardiology & Heart Surgery; Ear, Nose & Throat; Gastroenterology & GI Surgery; Geriatrics; Neurology & Neurosurgery; Orthopedics; Pulmonology; Urology; and the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital ranked as one of the Top 50 Best Children’s Hospitals for Neurology and Neurosurgery in the 2013-14 Best Children’s Hospitals list – the first hospital in New Jersey ever to be ranked in any Best Children’s Hospitals specialty. Additionally, HackensackUMC is among HealthGrades® America’s 100 Best Hospitals™ in 10 different areas – more than any other hospital in the nation. Additionally, it also the only hospital in New Jersey, New York and New England to receive the HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ for 11 years in a row. It was named a Leapfrog Top Hospital for patient safety, and was named one of Becker’s Hospital Review Best 50 Hospitals. HackensackUMC is the recipient of 19 Gold Seals of Approval™ from the Joint Commission – more than any hospital in the country.

Mr. Garrett recently received the 2013 Outstanding Medical Executive Award, part of the prestigious Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Awards®, which honor exemplary leaders whose dedication to patient care, education, research and public service have significantly impacted the delivery of healthcare in New Jersey and around the nation. He was also recognized as one of 30 national recipients of the 2013 Becker’s Healthcare Leadership Awards, and named one of the “100 Leaders of Great Hospitals in America” by Becker’s Hospital Review. Mr. Garrett was ranked as the second most powerful healthcare leader in New Jersey, according to NJBIZ, on its 2013 Power 50: Health care list. He also received the 2013 Healthcare Industry “Good Scout” Award from the Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America. In 2012, Mr. Garrett received the “Man of the Year Award” from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lodi/Hackensack and was the recipient of the Bergen Community College Foundation 2012 Medallion Award. In 2011, he was invited to speak before the Peking University – Pfizer China Advanced Hospital Management Program in Beijing, China, and also before the Bergen Academies in Hackensack a school for exceptional students across the county. He was also selected to chair the Nigerian Healthcare Foundation 6th Annual Banquet, and was honored by the Research for the Cure Foundation at their Annual Golf Outing. Also in 2011, the Hackensack Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce and the New Jersey Alliance for Action presented Mr. Garrett with their President’s Award. He has also been recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for demonstrating dedication, leadership and excellence in healthcare administration. He is a past secretary/treasurer of the American Diabetes Association, and has received the Association of Healthcare Executives Distinguished Service Award in 2004, the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Greater Hackensack Chamber of Commerce in 2001 and Modern Healthcare’s Up and Comers Award in 1996.

Mr. Garrett received his Master of Health Administration from Washington University in Saint Louis and his Bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University in New York. He and his wife, Laura, live in Morris Township, NJ, and have two sons, Jonathan and David.

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