NEWARK, NJ- Director of the Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant program at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Dr. Mark Jay Zucker was honored Friday as "Healthcare Professional of the Year" by the New Jersey Hospital Association.

The NJHA, a non-profit trade organization committed to improving New Jersey hospitals and health systems, held their 21st annual awards program last week where presenters acknowledged Zucker's achievements.

Recipients of the "Healthcare Professional of the Year" award must demonstrate exemplary performance before patients and peers. They must also possess altruism, sincerity, respect and compassion for patients and their families. Physicians, nurses and other allied healthcare professionals are all eligible to receive the award.

Under Zucker's leadership, more than 530 heart transplants and 250 left ventricular device implants were performed at the medical center.

The Short Hills, NJ resident has worked at Newark Beth for 20 years, and also serves on the United Network for Organ Sharing's Thoracic Committee and its Membership and Professional Standards Committee.

In 1993, Newark Beth was the first hospital to introduce the use of implantable mechanical assist devices in New Jersey. It was also the first to employ extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a heart/lung machine primarily used to sustain patients who are waiting for a transplant.

Zucker is the New Jersey cardiology representative to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a member of the Advisory Board of the New Jersey Sharing Network, as well as a member of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Cardiovascular Health Advisory Panel.

In addition, he previously served as president and governor of the NJ Chapter of the American College of Cardiology from 2006 to 2009 and on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network for 15 years.

Pastor Michael A. Saporito and some 127 members of the township's St. Joseph Church parish welcomed Marcelle St. Jean Saturday, who survived the deadly earthquake in Haiti just 11 days before.

About seven of her family and friends guided St. Jean's wheelchair from the sanctuary to the basement reception area after the Mass.

The 84-year-old grandmother was joined by her granddaughter Julie and host Christine Etienne who were available to translate for St. Jean as she began a 10-minute recollection of surviving the 7.0 earthquake.

"I'm bruised all over," she said, occasionally raising her right forearm that was still in a sling. "But I thank God for bringing me through."

It has been projected that up to a million of Haiti's 9.75 million residents will die. Some of those who were not killed by the massive Jan. 12 tremor are anticipated to pass away from related injuries, starvation and/or disease.

St. Jean said she went to Carrefore, a suburb of Port-au-Prince's, to visit the Union Center Samaito School where her son works.

"I came to the school to give gifts to the children," she said. "Someone asked me to stay past my birthday. I turned 84 on Jan. 14."

St. Jean, also known as "T-Mama," said she was staying in one of three rooms when the earthquake struck at about 5:30 p.m. Jan. 12. There was an 11-year-old girl with her at the time.

"I felt a shaking and saw one room fold into another one," she stated. "I dove beneath a metal chair and everything went dark. I began praying to God to spare me and to use me if I survive."

St. Jean, whose audience alternated from rapt attention to laughter to applause, said that she prayed throughout her experience.

"I remember hearing voices, 'Where's T-Mama?' so I knew I wasn't dead," she said. "I saw a hole and light and tried to make that hole wider."

Some of the voices St. Jean overheard were of those trying to rescue her from the rubble. She began shouting and yelling to make the hole wider and they used the metal chair to help her escape.

"One of the workers came out with a metal saw," said St. Jean. "But they were having problems using it. I prayed to God that He'd give them the skills for the saw."

The workers cut the chair apart but, when they tried to pull St. Jean out, she yelled in pain because her right arm was still in the debris.

"When they got me out around midnight, they laid me out on the floor," she said. "I looked back at the chair's place: I would've been killed if I hadn't ducked -and the girl was dead."

St. Jean said she had to lie on the floor and wait four days for medical help. She was eventually flown out on a scheduled airliner to Newark Liberty International Airport Jan. 19 and was treated at University Hospital.

A massive international aid effort is working around bottlenecks at air and sea ports and at the country's border with the Dominican Republic. Doctors and aids from the United States, France, Cuba and Canada have set up stations to treat victims. Individuals have been rescued alive as late as Jan. 26 - four days after the Haitian government officially changed the relief mission emphasis from rescue to recovery.

But the earthquake's destructive scale is widespread. Port-au-Prince garbage truck drivers told several international reporters Jan. 24 that they have brought 100,000 bodies to mass graves - 20 percent more than the official government estimate. Haitian President Rene Preval appealed for more tents on Jan. 25, given that nearly 400,000 people in and around the capital city are now homeless.

"We have 1,000 families in St. Joseph Parish, many from Maplewood but some from Irvington, Union and Millburn," said Saporito. "About 10 percent are Haitian or Haitian-American. What affects one of us affects all of us."

He said the parish began their own relief drive, collecting about $5,000 Jan. 17. They also collected funds during their Jan. 23 Mass and Jan. 24 worship service to be sent through Catholic Relief Services.

About 29 relatives and acquaintances of the parish were killed or are still missing. According to one source, 80 percent of Haitians identify themselves as Roman Catholic. About 90.5 percent of their Hispaniola Island neighbors in the Dominican Republic consider themselves Catholic.

The program featured "before-and-after" photos of Port-au-Prince Cathedral. Its Mass, organized in part by Etienne, featured hymns and responses in English and French Creole. Port-au-Prince archbishop Joseph Serge Miot was among those killed in the quake. New York City Archbishop Timothy Dolan and CRS chairman Thomas Wenski attended his funeral Mass on Jan. 21.

"I approached Fr. Michael after the Jan. 17 service," said Etienne. "I said that we must do more than collect funds for the relief. He agreed that there are people here on this side of the earthquake who are suffering."

Newark, NJ - On Thursday, January 14, more than 500 employees from Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children's Hospital of New Jersey celebrated at an Employee Recognition Dinner held at Mayfair Farms, West Orange, NJ. The event honored employees in a variety of categories, with 512 employees with 6,980 collective years of service being recognized, as well as other attendees who were honored for outstanding performance in a variety of categories.

"The Employee Recognition Dinner gives us an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable service of our long-term employees," said John A. Brennan, MD, Executive Director of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. "We truly are grateful to have such a dedicated and experienced staff here at The Beth and Children's Hospital of New Jersey. "I believe that this longevity stems from their unwavering commitment to their professions and from their devotion to our patients."

Newark, NJ—An innovative new program at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (NBIMC) and Children's Hospital of New Jersey (CHNJ) is helping to reduce hospital noise for the betterment of patients. The TOO LOUD program was launched on August 24, 2009, one of only a handful of noise reduction programs at hospitals nationwide.

The TOO LOUD Program is specifically designed to address patients' concerns about quiet in the hospital at night, and patient satisfaction scores in this area have improved by four percentage points since the program was introduced four months ago. The effects of hospital noise include lost sleep, higher blood pressure and lower overall patient satisfaction.