News, views and insights on maintaining a healthy edge.

The Hidden Costs of Strokes 

A recent study in England by the Stroke Association echoes what researchers here in the U.S. have been saying for years: Unless we change our eating, smoking and exercising habits—and manage blood pressure better—the number of first-time stroke victims will rise 50 to 60 percent over the next 20 years. And with more people surviving strokes, the “cost” of strokes to the economy could easily triple. High blood pressure is the number-one cause of strokes, and is also the most preventable cause. Yet by some estimates, four in ten people with high blood pressure may not be receiving appropriate treatment to manage the condition. And countless millions are unaware they have high blood pressure at all. What are the signs to look for to determine if you or a loved one are experiencing a stroke? “If a person notices any sudden onset of neurological symptoms that include numbness, difficulty walking, confusion, slurred speech or difficulty speaking, then 911 should be contacted immediately,” says  Dr. Nancy Gadallah,

a neurology specialist at Trinitas. “There is treatment for strokes, but it is time-sensitive.” Dr. Gadallah suggests visiting stroke.org for more information.

 

Postpartum Issues Beyond Depression 

Recently, Ivanka Trump revealed that she suffered bouts of postpartum depression after each of her three children were born. This triggered helpful and informative public discourse on the tangle of emotions that impacts roughly one in nine women in the U.S. Psychological issues are not the only thing new mothers need to be aware of, says

Dr. Abu Alam, Chair of Trinitas’ OB/GYN Department. “After giving birth, it is normal to experience some fatigue and soreness, but there are warning signs that may require additional medical care,” he says. “These include heavy bleeding, high fevers, elevated blood pressures, discharge and pain from any incision sites, pain when going to the bathroom, severe abdominal pain with vomiting, swelling in your legs, and feeling sadness for more than 10 days following delivery.” In these cases, it is vital that you contact your physician, he adds, and not be timid about dialing 911 in an emergency—for you and your baby.

 

Zika’s “Silver Lining” 

Does Zika have a silver lining? According to the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the mosquito-borne virus has shown an ability to selectively infect and kill cancerous cells in adult brains. A team of researchers from the medical schools at Washington University and UC–San Diego injected Zika into mice with aggressive cancers, such as glioblastoma, and were stunned to find that it shrank tumors while leaving other brain cells untouched. Similar experiments on donated human brains appeared to have the same results. This could lead to a game-changing treatment for diffuse brain cancers, which make it difficult to determine where cancer ends and healthy tissue begins—and which don’t always respond to chemo, radiation or surgery. 

 

Could Obesity be a Mental Illness?

A study completed last summer at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles has added a new wrinkle to the childhood obesity discussion. Researchers used MRIs to explore whether there is a psychological difference between overweight and lean adolescents. They found that food stimuli activated regions of the brain in both groups equally, but that kids at an increased risk for obesity had less neural activity in parts of the brain that support self-regulation and attention. In other words, the risk for obesity isn’t driven exclusively by the absence or presence of urges to eat high-calorie foods, but also by the ability to control those urges. More than half of all adolescents in the United States are either overweight or obese, and two-thirds of children of overweight parents are (or are likely to become) overweight themselves.

 

Working Out Heart Attack Symptoms 

Regular workouts are among the top recommendations cardiologists give their patients. However, according to research presented at the 2017 meeting of the European Society of Cardiologists, about 5 percent of cardiac arrest cases are related to exercise. Cardiac arrest is different from a heart attack, but can often follow a heart attack. The Society recommended that gym-goers be aware of where the automated external defibrillator (AED) is located. Even in the hands of an “amateur” the device is a lifesaver. Just as important, it is important to recognize the first signs of a heart attack so that you can offer assistance or (if you are the victim) ask for help. Some very important signs and symptoms that need to be addressed right away are chest pain, unusual shortness of breath, chest tightness, unilateral leg swelling or pain, or drooping of one side of the body, according to

Dr. Vasyl Pidkaminetskiy, an Internal Medicine specialist at Trintias. “Although those are general, a person should seek medical attention if there are any unusual signs or symptoms going on with the body,” he says. “And remember—something that is atypical from the normal in an individual is nature’s way of telling a person that something may be wrong and further evaluation is needed.”

 

Does Natural Selection Still  Influence Human Evolution? 

A study published in PLoS Biology looked at the DNA of 215,000 individuals of European descent and offered the following answer: Yes. The genetic research looked for evidence of “evolution” over one or two generations by focusing on 8 million common mutations. They found evidence that life-shortening genes related to heart disease, Alzheimer’s and a predisposition to heavy smoking are being “weeded out,” presumably by some agent of natural selection. The researchers also noticed a trade-off between fertility and longevity that had been previously observed in animals but never in humans. 

 

Low-Dose Recommendation 

A recommendation in late-September from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force got the attention of a lot of current and former smokers. The group is urging individuals ages 55 to 80 who are current pack-a-day smokers (or who quit within the last 15 years) to have an annual Low-Dose CT scan. Lung cancer can present several different symptoms, points out

Dr. Clarissa Henson, Chair, Radiation Oncology at Trinitas. “If you are suffering from a chronic cough, shortness of breath, weight loss and fatigue, these could be signs of an underlying lung cancer. Lung cancer is often rapidly growing and can present with metastasis to the bone or brain and often can present with worsening bone or back pain, and even headaches, vomiting or a change in speech or mobility when the cancer has spread to the brain.” A Low-Dose CT scan can detect lung cancer at a very early and highly curable stage. Trinitas offers a new low-dose Lung Screening Program that can detect traces of cancer within seconds. For more information on this program, call (908) 994-5051.

 

Sports Photography by Rob Tringali

 

Rob Tringali can barely remember a moment when he didn’t experience the sports world through the business end of a camera lens. His father founded SportsChrome, the first sports photography house, and he has been capturing great athletes and major events for magazines, newspapers and web sites ever since. Rob’s work has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine, and he is a familiar figure at the World Series, Super Bowl, U.S. Open and Olympics. His ability to isolate moments of power has made him one of the world’s top sports photographers. To see more of his work go to robtringali.com.

 

ANOTHER HIT ON THE LINKS! 

Trinitas Health Foundation hosted yet another successful Annual Golf Classic & Spa Day at Echo Lake Country Club in Westfield, New Jersey.  The event raised over $180,000 in net proceeds! Over 120 golfers enjoyed a gorgeous day on the links. The day was complete with golf contests, raffle drawings and great company. While our golfers were out enjoying their day, our 25 spa guests enjoyed a pampering at Skin Deep Salon and Spa. All of the women received expert services and came to the evening’s festivities feeling refreshed! The evening concluded with cocktails, dinner, raffle prize giveaways and a silent auction where many lucky winners went home with some fantastic prizes. Thank you to all of our supporters! Please save the date for next year’s event on Monday, September 24, 2018. Pictured from left to right: Dr. John D’Angelo, John Richel, Dr. Richard Mackessy, Vic Richel.

 

ELIZABETHTOWN GAS MAKES A GENEROUS GIFT 

Gary S. Horan, President & CEO of Trinitas, thanked Tina Earley (center), Manager of Government and Community Affairs at Elizabethtown Gas,

along with Nadine Brechner, Chief Development Officer and Vice President of the Trinitas Health Foundation. Elizabethtown Gas awarded Trinitas a $25,000 grant for Proud Past, Promising Future: The Campaign to Expand Trinitas Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department (ED). Thanks to Elizabethtown Gas for their generosity and continued support! 

 

INVESTORS FOUNDATION, INC. DONATES $50,000 FOR THE GARY S. HORAN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Thanks to Investors Foundation, Inc. for their generous gift of$50,000 to Proud Past, Promising Future: The Campaign to Expand Trinitas Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department. Carmen Rivera (center), Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager at Investors Bank in Elizabeth, presented the check to Nadine Brechner (left), Chief Development Officer and Vice President of the Trinitas Health Foundation and Joanne McGann (right), Director of Major Gifts also from the Foundation. The overall goal of this project was to not only make the delivery of emergency care more efficient, but also more personal at Trinitas. 

 

THE TRINITAS CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY 

Would you like to provide for the future of Trinitas Regional Medical Center while ensuring that you or a loved one will receive a guaranteed income for life? A Trinitas Charitable Gift Annuity might be right for you! Benefits include: Earn as much as 10% interest* while supporting Trinitas Regional Medical Center; Receive fixed payments for life and help save lives; cure patients and keep people healthy; No trust administration and no set up costs to the donor; Receive an income tax deduction for a portion of your gift; Leave a legacy and assure the future vitality of Trinitas Regional Medical Center; and automatic inclusion in our Cornerstone Club – a legacy society.

Call Nadine Brechner or Joanne McGann today at (908) 994-8249 for additional information or to set up a meeting to discuss your gift to Trinitas.

 

Do adoptees have an edge in the celebrity department? 

By Mark Stewart

On January 1, 2017, a new law went into effect that has proved to be a game-changer for thousands of New Jerseyans. Anyone adopted in the state can have their records unsealed and view their original birth certificates. For the vast majority of children born prior to the 1990s—when the idea of “open adoptions” began to gain momentum—the answer to the question Who am I? has been Who knows? Since the new law went into effect, several thousand adoptees have petitioned to receive their un-redacted birth records. Birth parents can request their identifying information be redacted, but thus far, only a few hundred have done so.      

In many cases, the biological parents are as curious to see how their progeny turned out as their children are to learn more about their family origins. This really isn’t much of a surprise. Imagine having put a child up for adoption and wondering for years, or even decades, how that child made his or her way in the world. The hope for any biological parent is that the baby grew up happy, healthy and found success as an adult. 

Okay, now take it a step further—think about what it might be like to discover that your biological offspring became a star. There are no hard statistics on how often this comes to pass. But you’d be surprised how many universally known and admired public figures were raised by adoptive parents. 

Adoption comes in many shapes and sizes, of course. A considerable number of famous Americans, for instance, were adopted as children or teenagers by step-parents—including Bill Clinton and Truman Capote—while others were adopted by members of their own extended family. Clinton was originally William Jefferson Blythe III, while Capote was born Truman Parsons. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles was adopted by her grandparents after it became clear her mother, Shanon, could not kick her drug and alcohol problems. Eric Clapton, the child of an unwed teen mom, grew up believing that his grandmother was his mother and his mother was his older sister—although it does not appear he was ever formally adopted. Eric Dickerson, a Hall of Fame football star, was born under similar circumstances and adopted by his great aunt. He, too, grew up believing his mother was his older sister. Jesse Jackson was fathered by a neighbor, Noah Robinson, but adopted by Charles Jackson, the man his mother married the following year. He grew up having father-son relationships with both men.   

In all of the aforementioned examples most, if not all, of the puzzle pieces required to complete the adoption picture were on the table. But what of the adoptees whose biological parents willingly relinquished their rights at (or shortly after) birth? The list of celebrities who were given up as infants is equally impressive. The world of commerce and industry, for example, is peppered with examples of adoptees who became successful business leaders. In some cases, they took over family businesses and helped them expand and flourish. Steve Jobs and Dave Thomas are perhaps the two most famous businessmen who were given up for adoption as infants. 

Jobs, the visionary industrial designer who co-founded Apple, was put up for adoption in San Francisco in 1955. His biological parents—the son of a wealthy Syrian family and the daughter of a Midwestern farm family—met as students at the University of Wisconsin. Jobs was conceived during a summer visit to Syria. Religious differences (he was Muslim, she Catholic) made marriage problematic. Initially, Jobs’s birth mother hoped to place him with a wealthy couple. However, at the last minute that couple decided they wanted a girl. Her baby boy was placed instead with Clara and Paul Jobs, a Bay Area working- class couple. She refused to sign the adoption papers until the Jobses agreed that he would go to college. Two years later, the family adopted a girl, Patricia. She and Steve grew up in Los Altos, a town with great schools and a high density of engineering families. Jobs tracked down his biological parents in his 30s, with the help of a letter from the doctor who had arranged the adoption, which was delivered after his death. Jobs ended up forging a relationship with his biological mother after his own mother passed away.

Thomas, the man behind the Wendy’s fast-food empire, is a Jersey boy. He was born in Atlantic City in 1932 to a single mother and adopted at six weeks. Sadly, his adoptive mother died when he was five years old. He moved frequently with his father and lived with his grandmother for a time. Thomas landed his first restaurant job at the age of 12, in Nashville, Tennessee. At 15, he was working at a Ft. Wayne, Indiana restaurant when his father decided to move again. Thomas decided to stay put. He dropped out of school to work full-time. Thanks to his food-service background, Thomas was assigned to a base in Germany during the Korean War, where he was responsible for feeding 2,000-plus GIs a day. He returned to Indiana, where he began working with Harland Sanders, devising ways to make his Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises more profitable—and suggested Col. Sanders do his own commercials. Thomas founded Wendy’s in 1969 and ended up doing his own commercials, too—more than 800 in all. In 1992, Thomas started the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which is dedicated to placing children in the foster care system into adoptive homes. Thomas passed away in 2002. His daughter, Wendy, serves on the foundation’s board.

Two of history’s most accomplished filmmakers—Michael Bay and Carl Dreyer—were given up as infants, albeit it was 75 years apart. Dreyer was born in Copenhagen to a successful farmer and a young girl who worked for his family as a maid. Dreyer’s father, who happened to be married, forced her to send the baby to an orphanage. The boy was adopted at the age of two by Carl Dreyer, a typesetter, and his wife, Inge. He left home at 16 to pursue his education and went into the film industry in his 20s. Dreyer moved to France, which was the epicenter of artistic filmmaking in the 1920s. In 1928, he made The Passion of Joan of Arc, a silent masterpiece that blended aspects of expressionism and realism, and broke ground in a number of artistic and technical areas. Four years later, Dreyer made the surrealistic classic Vampyr. The Joan of Arc picture has been hailed as the greatest European film of the silent era. Dreyer continued to make movies until his death in 1968.

Michael Bay, who began interning with George Lucas as a high school student, was born in 1965 in Los Angeles. He was adopted by a Jewish family. His father was an accountant and his mother was a child psychiatrist. A cousin, Susan, was married to Leonard Nimoy. As a boy, Bay was drawn to his mother’s 8 mm camera. At age 8, he attached firecrackers to a toy train and staged an explosive accident. The fire department was called to extinguish the flames. Fast-forward to the 1990s, when he delivered lots of bang for the buck in Bad Boys (his directorial debut, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence), The Rock (with Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery) and Armageddon, in which the earth is nearly obliterated. Between 2007 and 2017, Bay made five Transformers features. 

Two heralded writers were adopted shortly after birth, author

James Michener and playwright Edward Albee. Michener, whose books often focused on multi-generational family sagas, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1907. He never learned anything about his biological parents. He was adopted by a Quaker woman named Mabel Michener and grew up in Doylestown. He taught during the Depression and then took a job with MacMillan Publishing editing Social Studies textbooks. Called to active duty during World War II, Michener traveled the South Pacific on a string of choice assignments as a naval historian because, legend had it, the Navy brass mistakenly assumed that he was the son of an admiral with a similar-sounding name. He drew on these experiences to write his first book, Tales of the South Pacific, in 1947. It provided the inspiration for the Broadway smash South Pacific, which opened two years after the book was published. During Michener’s career, 14 other books became movies or television miniseries. In 1977, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Albee was born in Virginia in 1928 and brought to New York two weeks later, where he was adopted by a Westchester couple. His father, Reed Albee, owned several theaters and his grandfather, Edward II, was a wealthy vaudeville magnate. His mother, Frances, was an active socialite. Albee and his mother had a complicated relationship, which he later drew upon for his 1991 Pulitzer-winning play, Three Tall Women. He never felt close to his father either. He felt his parents never really understood much about parenting. Albee had a New Jersey connection; he attended the Lawrenceville School as a teenager, but was expelled long before he graduated. After college, he moved to Greenwich Village and began to write plays. He broke through in 1962 with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Four years later, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor starred in the film adaptation. Albee won a total of three Pulitzer prizes and was arguably the most important American playwright of his generation. He passed away in 2016.

Looking back at the grand achievements of these individuals, it is interesting to plot out what role adoption played in their intellectual and personal development. In the case of entertainers, it’s anyone’s guess. One thing is certain: a significant number of commercially successful actors and musicians are adoptees. Some of their stories are inspiring, while others serve as reminders that the circumstances of adoption are not always neat and clean. A case in point is comic actor Tommy Davidson, who first starred in the FOX series In Living Color. Born to a single mother in Mississippi in 1963, he was literally left for dead in the trash at 18 months. The woman who rescued him, and ultimately adopted him, was white, as was her husband. He grew up in the toney D.C. suburb of Silver Spring as the older brother to two siblings, Michael and Beryl. Funny, smart and energetic, Davidson was one of the hottest stand-ups in the business in the mid-1980s and is still making movies three decades later. 

Hip-Hop pioneer Darryl McDaniels—the DMC of Run-D.M.C.—was born in New York City in 1964, surrendered as an infant to a Catholic orphanage, and adopted by his foster care family, the McDaniels, who chose not to reveal to their son that they were not his birth parents. Despite reaching the apex of his profession, the emptiness McDaniels felt drove him to the brink of suicide. As he tells it, he was “saved” after listening to Sarah McLachlan’s song “Angel” on the radio. Four years later, he learned the truth about his origins (“the missing piece to my existence“) and embraced his adoption as the first step to fulfilling his destiny. McDaniels was inspired to cut a remake of Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle” and asked McLachlan to participate. She not only agreed, she provided the band and the recording studio. When they finished, she said, “Darryl…I gotta tell you something. I was adopted, too.” McLachlan was born in 1968 in Nova Scotia and, like McDaniels, was adopted by her foster family as an infant. They have since joined forces on a number of initiatives in support of adoptee rights. 

Three other high-profile sirens claim similar backgrounds: Faith Hill, Deborah Harry and Kristin Chenoweth. It might be worth noting that, from a stylistic standpoint, you probably couldn’t pick a more diverse trio. Hill, who’s got a closet full of Grammys and Country Music Awards, was born in Mississippi the same year as McLachlan and adopted by the Perry family, who named her Audrey Faith. In 1996, she fell in love with touring partner Tim McGraw and they were married that same year. Interestingly, McGraw, who was raised by a single mom, discovered at age 11 that he was the son of Mets pitcher Tug McGraw. After denying the relationship for several years, their increasing resemblance made Tug finally acknowledge his paternity. 

Kristin Chenoweth, a darling of the Broadway stage, was born in 1968, too. She was adopted at five days old by an Oklahoma family and found her niche as an actress and singer by age 12. After earning a scholarship to the Philadelphia Academy of Vocal Arts in 1993, she agreed to help a friend move from New Jersey to New York. On a lark, she auditioned for Animal Crackers at the Papermill Playhouse and won a featured role. She gave up her scholarship and later moved to New York to pursue her musical theater career, landing her first role on Broadway in 1997. 

Deborah Harry, the iconic frontwoman for the new wave group Blondie, is a full-fledged Jersey Girl. She was born in 1945 in Miami as Angela Tremble but given up for adoption at three months to Richard and Catherine Harry, who owned a gift shop in Hawthorne. Harry broke free of her suburban roots as soon as she could and worked as a go-go dancer and Playboy bunny before launching her musical career. She always knew she was adopted, but not until she was in her 40s did she try to track down her birth mother (who had no interest in forging a relationship with Harry). 

Finally, we have the realm of sports. No one has pushed the adoption conversation to the forefront in recent years more than the oversized star of baseball’s Yankees, Aaron Judge. He was born in 1992 in Linden, California, a one-stoplight town where he was adopted the next day by two local schoolteachers, Patty and Wayne Judge. They watched in astonishment as he grew to his current dimensions: 6’7”, 280 lbs., setting school records in baseball, football, and basketball. After a “cup of coffee” with the Yankees in 2016, he began terrorizing enemy pitchers in 2017 and won the Rookie of the Year award in a landslide. For now, he isn’t saying much about his biological parents, who one would guess from his appearance were some version of “mixed race.” Given his superstar status, and that it was a small town adoption, it’s unlikely the details will remain secret for long—even if he wants them to be.

If Judge continues to hit homers and makes it to the Hall of Fame, he will not be the first adoptee in Cooperstown. That honor belongs to Jim Palmer, a six-time All-Star who won 268 games for the Baltimore Orioles between 1965 and 1984. Palmer was born in New York City in 1945 and adopted as an infant by a garment industry executive, Moe Wiesen, and his wife Polly. The Wiesens lived in Westchester County until Jim was 10. His father died in 1955 and his mother moved Jim and his sister to California. There she met and married Max Palmer, an actor. Jim still went by Wiesen as he began to make a name for himself on the baseball diamond. At a Little League banquet where he was to receive three trophies, he asked the emcee to call him Jim Palmer. On Max Palmer’s 87th birthday, he told Jim that was the highlight of his life, and that he was proud to see his last name on each of the Cy Young Awards that Palmer won.

Two notable gold-medal Olympians were raised by adoptive parents, Dan O’Brien and Greg Louganis. O’Brien, the star of Nike’s “Dan and Dave” commercials in the early 1990s, won the decathlon in the 1996 Summer Games. His biological parents were Finnish and African-American. He was adopted by an Oregon couple and raised in Klamath Falls. Louganis, who won four gold (and one silver) diving medals between 1976 and 1988, was put up for adoption at eight months. His biological parents were Samoan and Swedish. He was raised in Southern California by Peter and Frances Louganis (Louganis is a Greek name) and had pushed his way into his older sister’s gymnastics and dance classes by the age of two. He began diving at the age of nine when his parents installed a backyard pool. 

The world of pro football offers three intriguing adoption stories: Daunte Culpepper, Colin Kaepernick and Tim Green. Culpepper was voted an All-Pro NFL quarterback in 2000 and again in 2004, and his football roots run deep. His birth mother, Barbara Henderson, was the sister of Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, a star linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s. She was serving time for armed robbery in a Florida prison when she gave birth to a baby boy. One day later, he was adopted by Emma Culpepper, who worked in the jail and raised a total of 15 children. At 17, her son stood 6’4” and was named Florida’s top high-school football player. He went on to play 12 seasons in the NFL, and continues to use his fame to support the African American Adoption Agency. Kaepernick, whose refusal to stand for the National Anthem in 2016 triggered a social media firestorm, was the mixed-race child of a destitute teen mother in Milwaukee. Shortly after his birth, he was placed with Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, a couple who had lost two sons to heart defects. The family moved to California, where Colin blossomed into a top-rated baseball pitcher and straight-A student. He turned down diamond scholarships to pursue his dream of playing college football, eventually landing a full ride at the University of Nevada. After being drafted in 2011 by the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick led the team to the Super Bowl in 2012. 

Tim Green, a defensive star for the Atlanta Falcons from 1986 to 1994, became an author of both fiction and non-fiction books after his playing days. In 1997, he published A Man and His Mother: An Adopted Son’s Search. In the book, Green talks about how he believed his “rejection” at birth drove him to become a high achiever, but also to have poor relationships with women. After learning that a girlfriend’s mother had given up a child for adoption at about the same time he was born (1963), he launched a seven-year quest to locate his birth mother so he could let her know that she had made the right choice—that he was successful and happy. 

Which is everything a biological parent could possibly hope for, isn’t it?  

THAT’S MY BOY!

The original “Star Child” adoptee came to us from the Old Testament, with an assist from Cecil B. DeMille. According to the story in Exodus, a Hebrew woman named Jochebed placed her newborn son in a waterproofed basket and floated him downriver after Pharaoh had ordered the male children of Israel killed. The infant was plucked from the bullrushes by an Egyptian princess and raised as Moses, a member of Pharaoh’s royal family. Although Moses achieved greatness as a member of Egypt’s ruling class, it was after he embraced his birth mother that he took it to the next level.
Given that Moses is one of the Bible’s most iconic figures, it stands to reason that it would take an actor with some gravitas to play (and also voice) him on-screen. Over the years, the part has gone to Christian Bale, Christian Slater, Peter Strauss, Val Kilmer, James Whitmore, and Burt Lancaster. The most amusing Moses was Mel Brooks in History of the World Part I. The most famous was Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments.
Little known fact: Baby Moses (above) was played by Fraser Heston, Charlton’s son. Thirty-four years later, Fraser—who became a producer and director—cast his father as Long John Silver in the 1990 film Treasure Island.

 

MORE LIKELY? LESS LIKELY?

What are the odds that an adopted child will flourish and excel, compared to a child raised by biological parents? The answer depends on one’s definition of “success.” So much of what we achieve is linked to self-image. That can be complicated for adoptees. Baby Boomers, for example, grew up in an era where they had zero information on who had given them up, or why. On the one hand, these children grew up feeling good that they were “picked” by parents who desperately wanted them. On the other hand, there is a dark place every adoptee has gone when they wondered why they were “discarded.” 

A survey done a decade ago generated some interesting statistics. Three out of four adopted children are read to (or sung to) every day. This is true for only half of biological children. Also, ninety percent of adoptees had positive feelings about the process—including an appreciation for the selfless act of their birth mothers. 

WIN-WIN SCENARIO

Although some friends and family members may object to a young mother giving up a baby for adoption—or judge her harshly for the decision—statistics show that what is best for the baby usually has a positive outcome for the mother as well. Birth mothers are: 

• No more likely to suffer from depression as single moms raising small children.
• Less likely to have a second out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
• More likely to delay marriage, but also more likely to eventually marry.
• Less likely to divorce.
• More likely to finish school.
• More likely to be employed 12 months after the baby is born.
• Less likely to live in poverty or receive public assistance.

 

It’s about time you knew…there’s a world of great watches beyond Rolex and Omega.

By Brandon Horner

As the holidays approach, gift-giving (and for some, receiving) moves from the back of our minds to the forefront, and it can be a little daunting. There’s that fear of disappointment, or worse, of apathy: that moment when a given gift falls flat, when we know, inevitably, that the piece of technology or some object of temporary charm will find its place in the back of a drawer, forgotten. Then again, we can also remember the time we gave or received gifts we knew would last: objects that we would carry with us or use for as long as we could, until they broke or were lost or, we hope, passed down. And for so many, that gift is a singular object: a watch.

There’s no doubt to the appeal of a mechanical watch. (A note to novices: all watches are either quartz—which run on replaceable or rechargeable batteries—or mechanical; the latter are far more desirable because with regular maintenance they can, in theory, last forever.)  And yes, many now use their phones to tell time, or a device such as an Apple Watch. Yet there’s nothing to be passed down there, nothing lasting. I remember the first watch my wife gave me with vivid detail—with the same remarkable clarity as the memory of the Christmas when I received my first bicycle. I could not tell you a single moment of significance that I associate with purchasing or being given a piece of technology (save the Nintendo I received when I was five, but I digress). Simply put, when one has come of age, or is celebrating a beginning or ending of a significant moment in his or her life, no singular gift can carry the memory of that moment into the future like the gift of a timepiece.

For many who can afford the price of timelessness, Rolex and Omega are the first brands that come to mind. And it’s easy to see why. Make no mistake: Rolex’s logo is a crown for a reason. According to Forbes last year, Rolex is the most trusted company in the world, besting the likes of BMW and Walt Disney, Google and Lego. Everything about a Rolex watch—its fit and finish, its design and reliability—is unmatched in the industry. Right behind Rolex is Omega, a company that may not have as many iconic designs in its portfolio (though timepiece aficionados do covet the “Moonwatch,” an iconic Omega chronograph that was the first watch on the moon, and which is still in production today), but whose product is equally reliable. Some even believe that, from a horological standpoint, (fancy-speak for the design of the actual movement inside the watch), Omega is the more cutting-edge, innovative watchmaker

These are all overly popular watches. They are popular for good reason, but still, it’s rare to see something other than a Rolex Submariner (left) or DateJust, or an Omega Speedmaster or Seamaster, or a Cartier Roadster or Tank on the wrist of someone who has been given (or who has bought himself or herself) a nice watch.So, what are some alternatives for those who want something a little different?

A fantastic choice for those who value the reliability and styling of a brand like Rolex is Tudor, a close cousin to the most famous watchmaker in the world. For a while, Tudor was owned by Rolex, and benefitted from the overlap: Tudor watches from the 60’s and 70’s mimicked Rolex designs and matched their quality. Components were often machined using the same processes and materials. The only difference was on the inside.

Where Rolex would use its own “in- house” designed movements, Tudor movements were made out-of-house, often by a group called ETA (which is owned by the Swatch Corporation). Unfortunately, Tudor’s watches weren’t available in the United States between 2004 and 2013, but in their reentry, Tudor challenged the watch market with a number of reissued sport models they released in the 60’s and 70’s. Today, Tudor has become a powerhouse in its own right. Its watches are still held to a high standard, and it has begun producing its own movements in-house, which is a big deal in the watchmaking world. Models such as the Tudor Black Bay, the Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue, and the Tudor Heritage Ranger (above) are all fantastic, (relatively) affordable timepieces that will last a lifetime.

Another brand that is not very well known outside the watch world is Panerai, which is notable for its large, masculine, easily-readable watches. Panerai’s two iconic styles—the Luminor, with its distinctive crown guard, and the Radiomir (below), with its wire lugs— seem bulkier than most watches. But this design is what makes them unmistakably Panerai, as most dials feature large numerals and thick steel cases. Like all Panerai models, they have their heritage in the brand’s link to the Italian Navy, so they are technically dive watches—though most come on Panerai’s famous thick leather straps. The brand is actually Swiss, although if you ever visit Florence, you can still stop in to Panerai’s first shop, in the same plaza as the city’s famous Duomo. Another brand that is a bit unknown outside of the watch world is Jaeger LeCoultre (JLC). There’s a cliché among watchmakers that almost every famous timepiece has “a little Jaeger LeCoultre in it.” For decades, Jaeger played a literal role in production for many household-name watch companies, often supplying them with JLC-designed movements. Today, JLC continues to lead the way in horological innovation. Its most famous design is the Reverso, (left) a rectangular dress watch in which the face can be flipped around to protect the crystal. It was originally designed to be worn by polo players. Like Panerai, Rolex, and Omega, there’s a high entry point into a watch of this quality, but for those in the know, Jaeger LeCoultre offers more pedigree, history, and iconic design than most other famous watchmakers.

Imagine, years from now, you or a loved one wearing a timepiece made by a company that you had never heard of before—one you might wear for your whole life and then pass down—all because you were willing to look for something a little unexpected. EDGE

Editor’s Note: If you find yourself looking to buy a watch that will last more than a lifetime, there are a lot of superb options, and they extend far beyond the ubiquitous offerings of the two watch brands most people can name. All these brands offer wonderful products and world-class service. To learn a little more, visit their websites to find your nearest retailer, and check them out in person.

 

TRINITAS NAMES NEW ER AFTER CEO 

To honor his five decades of healthcare leadership in both New York and New Jersey, Trinitas Regional Medical Center named its new $18.7 million Emergency Department after Gary S. Horan, FACHE, Trinitas President and CEO. The expansion will deliver emergency care more quickly, and with higher quality, raising the number of treatment beds from 27 to 45, and providing separate treatment areas where the most appropriate care can be given to seniors, families, and behavioral health patients. For more on this difference-maker see “Partners In Time” on page 45.    

 

SHARING IS CARING!

In partnership with HRSA and Workplace Partnership for Life, The NJ Sharing Network recognized Trinitas Regional Medical Center for its efforts to promote awareness about the life-saving benefits of organ and tissue donation. More than 1,000 hospitals came together across the country to participate in the 2017 Hospital Campaign. In total, this campaign added 26,975 donor registrations over a seven-month period.  Trinitas was recognized with the Sharing Network’s Platinum Award for its vigorous marketing and education focused on the importance of organ and tissue donation. 

 

PAINT THE TOWN PINK!

With a goal of spreading breast health awareness during October and all year round, Trinitas partnered with the City of Elizabeth and Elizabeth Department of Health and Human Services to “Paint the Town Pink!” With pink ribbons displayed throughout the city’s buildings and storefronts, the initiative hosted two events: one at Bloomingdale’s at Short Hills Mall and another at Proceed Inc. Special thanks to all partners for making this event possible: Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Union County Office of Women, Susan G. Komen- North Jersey, Greater Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce, and the Elizabeth Avenue Partnership.  

 

GARDEN OF HEALTH 

Gary S. Horan (President & CEO, Trinitas RMC) and Nancy DiLiegro (VP, Clinical Operations and Physician Services/Chief Clinical Officer, Trinitas RMC) recently took a stroll through the new community garden located at Trinitas’ New Point Campus in Elizabeth. The Community Garden was made possible by Groundwork Elizabeth, The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, and the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The garden will be tended by the Child Adolescent Program within Trinitas’s Behavioral Health Department, and serve as a long-term therapeutic tool for these patients. 

 

THE PINK ROOM 

Maria Sparacio, owner of The Pink Room in Union, NJ has partnered with Trinitas Regional Medical Center to provide shapewear garments for new moms. Maternity and post-partum body girdles will be offered at a discounted rate for the next year only at Trinitas! The Pink Room was founded in May of 2008 and has great reviews and results from clients all throughout New Jersey. 

 

SHARING A PINK EVENING

Trinitas collaborated with Bloomingdale’s at Short Hills Mall to host an event focused on breast health awareness. From left to right: Dr. Clarissa Henson, Radiation Oncologist; Dr. Heidi Fish, Pathologist; Dr. Dipti Pandya, Radiologist; Dr. Michelle Cholankeril, Medical Oncologist; Dr. Adriana Suarez-Ligon, Breast Surgeon; provided key information on preventative care, screening, and treatment. If you missed this event and would like more information on Trinitas Comprehensive Cancer Center and its team of specialists call (908) 994-8000.

Submit your EDGE People event at www.edgemagonline.com

 

Connie Dwyer of the Connie Dwyer Breast Center Foundation (far left), was also in attendance. From left to right Connie is accompanied by Nancy DiLiegro (VP, Clinical Operations and Physician Services), Marlie Messina (Public Relations Manager, Bloomingdale’s Short Hills & Bridgewater), Nadine Brechner (Chief Development Officer and VP of the Trinitas Health Foundation), Roselena Twyne (Community Initiatives/Clinical Support Services Specialist), and Janet Lesko (Executive Director, Connie Dwyer Breast Cancer Foundation).

EDGE takes you inside  the area’s most creative kitchens.

 

Paragon Tap & Table • Sweet Potato Gnocchi

77 Central Ave. • CLARK

(732) 931-1776 • paragonnj.com

At Paragon Tap and Table the menu always takes a shift with each passing season. The fall is my favorite time of year; it brings out the comfort dishes. This is reflected in our Sweet Potato Gnocchi with braised lamb shoulder. It’s the perfect fall dish to pair with one of our local craft beers.  

— Eric B. LeVine, Chef/Partner

 

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Wasabi Crusted Filet Mignon 

1230 Route 22 West • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 518-9733 • partyonthegrill.com

We prepare a crusted 8-ounce filet mignon served with gingered spinach, shitake mushrooms, and a tempura onion ring. 

 

Daimatsu • Sushi Pizza

860 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-7888 • daimatsusushibar.com

This original dish has been our signature appetizer for over 20 years. Crispy seasoned sushi rice topped with homemade spicy mayo, marinated tuna, finely chopped onion, scallion, masago caviar, and ginger. Our customers always come back wanting more. 

 

Publick House • Tuna Crisp 

899 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-2355 • publickhousenj.com

Our take on a spicy tuna roll, the Tuna Crisp has been our most popular app since we opened. Sushi grade tuna is mixed with a spicy mayo and spread on top of crispy sushi rice. Topped with soy gastrique wasabi aioli and scallions, this dish will satisfy sushi lovers and non-sushi lovers alike.

— Bernie Goncalves, Owner

 

The Barge • Cioppino 

201 Front Street • PERTH AMBOY

(732) 442-3000 • thebarge.com

Our Cioppino, the signature dish of San Francisco, features a fresh, healthy selection of clams, mussels, shrimp, Maine lobster and Jersey scallops—drizzled in Greek virgin olive oil, with fresh garlic and white wine—over homemade Italian linguini. I know it will become one of your favorite dishes.    

— Alex Vosinas Chef/Owner

 

Luciano’s Ristorante & Lounge • Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Bruschetta

1579 Main Street • RAHWAY

(732) 815-1200 • lucianosristorante.com

Jumbo lump crab cake bruschetta, finished with virgin olive oil and a balsamic reduction has been one of Luciano’s signature appetizers since we opened. 

— Joseph Mastrella, Executive Chef/Partner

 

Morris Tap & Grill • Pan Seared Scallops

500 Route 10 West • RANDOLPH

(973) 891-1776 • morristapandgrill.com

At Morris Tap and Grill we always change the menu with every season. The fall is no exception. I work with local farmers, fish mongers and butchers to ensure the best quality and the best season for all that is on the menu at Morris Tap and Grill. Featured here is the new Pan Seared Scallops with horseradish edamame risotto, mustard demi and tempura snow peas. 

— Eric B LeVine, Chef/Partner

Costa’s Italian Ristorante & Catering • Paglia Fieno Mimosa

120 Chestnut Street • ROSELLE PARK

(908) 241-1131 • costasitalianrestaurant.com

Our Paglia Fieno Mimosa features spinach and egg fettuccine in a brandy cream sauce with peas, mushrooms and prosciutto.

— Nicola & Brian, Hosts

 

LongHorn Steakhouse • Outlaw Ribeye

272 Route 22 West • SPRINGFIELD

(973) 315-2049 • longhornsteakhouse.com

LongHorn Steakhouse has just opened in Springfield, and we are looking forward to meeting all of our future guests! When you visit us, we suggest you try our fresh, never frozen, 18 oz. bone-in Outlaw Ribeye — featuring juicy marbling that is perfectly seasoned and fire-grilled by our expert Grill Masters.  

— Anthony Levy, Managing Partner

 

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Volcano Roll 

23A Nelson Avenue • STATEN ISLAND, NY

(718) 966-9600 • partyonthegrill.com

Hot-out-of-the-oven, crab, avocado and cream cheese rolled up and topped with a mild spicy scallop salad.

 

Galloping Hill Caterers

Galloping Hill Road and Chestnut Street • UNION

(908) 686-2683 • gallopinghillcaterers.com

Galloping Hill Caterers has been an incredible landmark for nearly sixty years. We pride ourselves in delivering “over the top” cuisine, impeccable service and outstanding attention to detail. That is the hallmark of our success! Simply, an unforgettable experience. Pictured here is one of our crepes flambé that really creates lots of excitement!

— George Thomas, Owner

 

Vine Ripe Markets

430 North Avenue East • WESTFIELD

(908) 233-2424 • vineripemarkets.com

During the holidays, do you strive to serve authentic holiday favorites, but rarely have the time to do so? Our gourmet catering department tirelessly works to provide the best authentic dishes, at the right price. Whether it is a perfectly roasted Thanksgiving turkey, or a complete journey through The Feast of the Seven Fishes (Festa dei sette pesci), our catering team has you covered.

— Frank Bruno, Chief Culinary Officer

 

New Jersey’s newest ER has just had an $18.7 million expansion that has cut the wait by two-thirds.

By Yolanda Navarra Fleming

Seven years ago at Trinitas Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department (ED)—Union County’s busiest Emergency Room—the median wait was about 65 minutes. But now, treatment space has doubled after the $18.7 million renovations and expansion, which has whittled down the median wait time to about 18 minutes. 

Gary S. Horan, FACHE, President & CEO at Trinitas, says he looks forward to September when the entire department will be completed and dedicated. “The physical space is very impressive, and is designed to more appropriately treat the families, children, and seniors who come to us for care,” says Horan. “Separate areas for each make the care very specialized and personal.”

Geriatric patients will be seen in a separate, more serene area—with cosmetic and practical improvements and additions, such as mobility aids, pressure-reducing mattresses, bedside commodes, bedside transition stools, and the use of non-slip socks and hearing aids. Even the clocks on the walls are larger. But not only seniors will benefit from improvements and the 18 additional beds—including five private Geriatric beds, six Transitional Care Unit beds, and seven Fast Track Treatment bays. According to Dr. John D’Angelo, Chairman of the Emergency Medicine Department, the Geriatric ED has more to do with the complexity of care and less to do with age. 

“Geriatric patients are not singularly defined,” says Dr. D’Angelo. “If a patient requires a multidisciplinary team to assist with preventing a hospital admission or facilitating a home care plan, they may find themselves in the Geriatric ED.”

For instance, a 50-year-old patient with advanced multiple sclerosis who requires full home care may benefit from Geriatric Care. In the ED, he or she may receive a physical therapy consult, a wound care consult, and a social worker, who reviews all home care needs. 

Trinitas’s ED ranks among the top urban-based facilities of its size, processing about 70,000 patients each year.

However, Dr. D’Angelo—who also serves as a tactical physician for the Union County Emergency Response Team and the SWAT Team—says, “Preparing for the unexpected is always a challenge. Patient arrivals on any given day at any given hour can be very dynamic. We are determined to answer the call through thoughtful staffing patterns and continued process improvement.”

Dr. D’Angelo has been with Trinitas for the past five years. He attended Muhlenberg College and earned his bachelor’s degree in science before graduating from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. As chief resident in the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City, he received both Resident and Researcher of the Year awards. After his residency, he moved to Florida and worked as an attending physician at regional trauma centers in South Florida. He also served as the Assistant Medical Director at several EMS agencies in Broward County.

Empathy has played an important part in his career.

“Part of it is to see yourself within your patients,” he explains. “I see you; I am you. That’s critical in the delivery of the healthcare delivery system—to see yourself in the individual who is struggling.” 

Delivering the same elevated level of healthcare to those who can’t afford it also drives him. “It’s always been my passion,” he says. “Top-notch care should be available to everyone. I urge those who can afford healthcare to support the mission and to help those who have less.”

“Fast Track,” or “Prompt Care,” is essentially an urgent-care or office visit, he says. “Our goal is to treat and release a patient in less than 90 minutes. Many patients find it challenging to find a primary care physician who accepts Medicaid, but we see any patient regardless of ability to pay.”

Patients with behavioral health or substance abuse issues can rely on the Transitional Care Unit (TCU) at Trinitas. For instance, a patient with Bipolar disorder co-occurring with opioid addiction is better served in the more controlled environment of the TCU, designed for patients who may have mixed disorders. Such patients may be considered “friendly faces,” says Dr. D’Angelo, “which are common in many urban emergency departments.”

The recovery specialist reaches out to such patients in the Trinitas ED and offers help and encouragement. Recently, a “friendly face” who struggles with alcohol addiction kept returning to the ER. 

“Our recovery specialist encountered the patient when he was sober,” Dr. D’Angelo recalls. “They made arrangements to meet at a McDonald’s for a free breakfast and coffee. The patient’s only obligation was sobriety.”

The result of that happy meal has since turned into 15 days of recovery for the patient, who is continuing to do well. “To some that may not seem like a long time, but it’s a lifetime to this patient and more importantly a second chance.”  

 

John D’Angelo, DO

Chairman/Emergency Medicine

Trinitas Regional Medical Center

News, views and insights on maintaining a healthy edge.

 

Four Months or Twelve? 

A study published in the June edition of Pediatrics appears to be at odds with long-accepted recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics concerning how long infants should sleep in the same room as their parents. The new study indicates that four months may be the ideal cut-off. Beyond that point, babies sharing the same room get less sleep and sleep for shorter stretches. Also, the study suggests that between four and nine months, parents may be more likely to engage in unsafe sleep practices associated with sleep-related deaths. More than 3,500 infants die in sleep-related deaths in the U.S. each year. The lead author of the new study, Dr. Ian Paul, has an explanation for the difference between the two recommendations: AAP’s is based on a consensus of expert opinions, while the four-month cutoff is based on data from the study’s 230 families. He adds that moving a child out of the parent’s bedroom at one year is impractical for another reason—this tends to be a peak period of separation anxiety for children.

 

Home Care of Alzheimer’s Patients On the Rise      

According to a June report by the CDC, the number of deaths in the U.S. attributed to Alzheimer’s disease more than doubled between 1999 – 2014, from 44,536 to 93,541. The startling rise can be attributed to a number of factors, including greater longevity and aging Baby Boomers, as well as better diagnosis of the neurodegenerative condition. What’s most troubling about the results of the CDC report is that an increasing number of Alzheimer’s deaths are occurring at home as opposed to in hospitals or long-term care facilities. This suggests that families are having to assume the burden of caregiving, presumably for financial reasons. The long-term economic and mental health impact of this trend further complicates the Alzheimer’s picture. 

 

Is Vaping Worse for You Than Smoking? 

The ongoing debate around the growing use of e-cigarettes has some concerning new data, courtesy of a University of Connecticut study that appeared recently in ACS Sensors, a publication of the American Chemical Society. A team of UConn chemists looked specifically at DNA damage and found that electronic cigarettes loaded with nicotine-based liquid were potentially as harmful to DNA as unfiltered cigarettes like Lucky Strikes, while non-nicotine e-cigarettes carried the same risk as smoking traditional filtered cigarettes. The team focused on cellular mutations caused by DNA damage, which can lead to cancer. The concerning results were attributed primarily to the number of chemical additives in e-cig vapors, including propylene glycol, glycerin and nicotine, as well as flavorings.

 

Oh, Baby: Screen Time Linked to Delayed Speech 

Are smartphones making kids dumber? The Hospital for Sick Children, located in Toronto, asked nearly 1,000 families to track the screen time of their young children, from six months to two years old. About one in five children 18 months or older used a tablet or smart phone for an average of 28 minutes a day. Within that group, every 30-minute increase in screen time was associated with a 49 percent increase in delayed speech. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that children under 18 months have zero screen time, aside from video-chatting with family members.

 

Easy On the Knees 

Go ahead and add one more benefit from fiber. An article published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases reported that individuals who consumed a high-fiber diet had a dramatically lower incidence of knee arthritis. The article referenced two recent studies covering a total of 6,064 subjects. One found a 30%difference in osteoarthritis of the knee between the people who had the highest fiber intake and the lowest, while the other showed a 61% drop! There doesn’t appear to be a direct fiber-knee link; instead, researchers believe the benefit is related to weight control and inflammation associated with some lower-fiber diets. Of course, high-fiber diets have been directly linked to improved cardiovascular health, as well as a reduced risk of diabetes.

 

Pedaling Toward Happiness 

Low pay, high pressure and shifting office politics can make for a toxic mix in our jobs. Indeed, nearly one-third of U.S. workers report suffering from chronic stress directly related to their employment, while 36% of those reporting stress say their company offers nothing in the way of stress management. A recent article in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management offered one solution: cycling to work. Those who bike—as opposed to commuting by car or public transportation—reported a significantly lower amount of workplace stress. According to the Harvard Health Letter, additional benefits of cycling to and from work include building a wide range of muscles and increasing bone density, as well as a providing an aerobic workout that’is easy on the joints. 

 

 

 

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The painting tradition in New Jersey is alive and well. A magnet for American Impressionists in the late 19th and early 20th Century, the state was fertile territory for artist colonies and renowned painters such as Thomas Eakins, Edward Boulton, and Robert Henri. Winslow Homer painted well-heeled vacationers at the Jersey Shore. Ashcan School master Everett Shinn was among a large group of painters born and raised in New Jersey. With the art market booming, their works are, sadly, out of reach unless you are a major corporation (or an oligarch)—however, as the following pages demonstrate, the talent pool of active artists working here is still deep and impressive. 

Editor’s Note: Kathy Donnelly authored EDGE’s very first “Local Talent” feature a few years back: Buying Art Means Buying Smart…So What’s the Deal with Your Neighborhood Gallery? She is a collector and dealer, and owns Beauregard Gallery (beauregardfineart.com).

ANDREW H. CAMPBELL MEMORIAL SPORTING CLAYS TOURNAMENT 

Friends and family members of the Campbell family joined together with other Trinitas philanthropists on Thursday, June 22nd at the Hudson Farm Club in Andover, NJ, for a day of sport, remembrance, and charity. Held annually in memory of Andrew H. Campbell, a longtime supporter and board chairman of Trinitas, this year’s shoot netted over $48,000.  

When Mr. Campbell passed away, the Campbell family felt the best way to honor his memory was to establish an endowment in his name that would continue his legacy for the cause he loved the most—the people of Trinitas Regional Medical Center and the communities they serve. The Andrew H. Campbell Memorial Endowment benefits the Trinitas Cancer Center, the Trinitas Pallia-tive Care Program and the Trinitas Nursing Scholarship Program. Funds raised for the Endowment at the AHC Memorial Sporting Clays Tournament directly support these important programs.

If you would like additional information about this or starting your own endowment to remember a loved one, please contact Nadine Brechner or Joanne McGann at 908-994-8249.

 

BANK OF AMERICA MAKES 

$20,000 DONATION!

The Trinitas Health Foundation received a $20,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The grant will support the Health Careers Exploration Program, a constructive and aspirational after-school and summer initiative that mentors students on achievable career options, teaching them the importance of volunteerism and motivating them to stay in school. The program includes: Summer Nursing Bootcamp, Medical Mentorships, Trinitas Teen Volunteer Program and Career Track & Certification Program. By offering career guidance and hands-on career exploration opportunities, our program has unlocked valuable economic opportunities for thousands of students from the greater Union County region, almost all of whom are from Elizabeth and from low-income families. Special thank you to Bank of America for its continued support and partnership. Summer Nursing Camp is a six-week program for Union County high school students contemplating a nursing career. This program has grown significantly and now serves 72 to 75 students per year. Last year a Bank of America representative came in and spoke with the students regarding finance topics.

THE PROVIDENT BANK FOUNDATION ASSISTS MEDICAL TRAINING AT TRINITAS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER 

Members of The Provident Bank Foundation team, along with a representative from Provident Bank, were on hand at Trinitas Regional Medical Center recently to present a check in the amount of $24,000 to purchase a “SimMan” Advanced Life Support Mannequin. The life-like mannequin simulates human functions and responses, and serves as a bridge between classroom learning and clinical experiences for emergency medical technicians (EMTs), firefighters and paramedics undergoing training at Trinitas.  With the addition of this equipment, Trinitas expects to train up to 530 students annually. Joseph McTernan (second from left), Senior Director/Community & Clinical Services at Trinitas, gratefully accepted the check from (left to right) Karen McMullen, Board member-The Provident Bank Foundation; Jane Kurek, Executive Director, The Provident Bank Foundation; and Michael Kahn, VP/Market Manager, Provident Bank.

 

We welcome the community to our programs that are designed to educate and inform. Programs are subject to change.

 

SEMINARS

Seminars, unless otherwise noted, will be held at the CORE Building, 1164 Elizabeth Ave., Elizabeth, NJ (Enter parking lot from South Broad St., next to Fire House) Register online or call (908) 994-8939.  

 

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 6 & SEPT. 13

AARP Driver Safety Classroom Course 

Earn a 5%-10% discount on auto insurance or two points deducted from your driving record. Two classes must be taken consecutively in order to gain credit for the class.

$15 for AARP members (must bring card for validation)

$20 for Non AARP members

Must bring a valid driver’s license. 

Space is limited and registration is required.

Call 908-994-8939 to register.  

Register at www.TrinitasRMC.org/AARP  

 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 • 11:00 am 

Real Men Wear Gowns: 

Understanding the Need to Screen 

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. One in seven men are diagnosed every five minutes. Symptoms often go unnoticed during the early stages so many don’t know they have it until it’s too late. Join us to learn more about why screening is vitally important and what you can do to manage your risk!

Stephen Sampson Senior Center

800 Anna St, Elizabeth, NJ 07201

Register at www.TrinitasRMC.org/Cancer

 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 • 5:30 pm 

Pain Management:  

How To Manage Chronic Back Pain 

Do you suffer from constant back pain? If you want to explore alternatives to back surgery, attend our free seminar to learn about non-invasive back pain treatment options. Manage your back pain and get on with living a satisfying and fulfilling life!

Dr. Todd S.Koppel, Chief, Division of Pain Management

Register at www.TrinitasRMC.org/Pain

 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4 • 11:45 am 

Break the Silence: Building Healthy

Relationships and Bringing 

Awareness to Domestic Violence  

Many women often blame themselves when they go through an abusive relationship. Join us as we uncover signs of abusive relationships, resources to contact for support, and coping strategies for surviving. If you or a loved one has been through an abusive relationship, we welcome you to this potentially life-changing conversation. 

Lillian Ribeiro, Community Education & Drama Therapist, YWCA Union County; Linda Reynolds, Director of Ambulatory Adult Psych Services

Register at www.TrinitasRMC.org/BreaktheSilence

 

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10 • 6:00 pm

Share a Pink Evening! Join our Expert

Physicians to Discuss Breast Health! 

Think Pink while you shop, eat and drink! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Trinitas has assembled an esteemed panel of healthcare experts who will conduct a panel discussion on the topic. Come out and learn more about early detection of breast cancer, recent research developments, new therapies, treatment modalities and more. Light food and refreshments will be provided.

Dr. Adriana Suarez-Ligon, Breast Surgeon; Dr. Clarissa Henson, Radiologist; Dr. Dipti Pandya, Radiologist; Dr. Heidi Fish, Pathologist; Dr. Michelle Cholankeril, Oncologist

Bloomingdales Store, Short Hills Mall

 

VIERNES, 13 DE OCTUBRE • 6:00 pm 

Tu Futuro En Tus Manos: El cáncer

de mama no avisa, pero podemos

adelantarnos 

Juntos con Proceed Inc. y Susan G. Komen-North Jersey, Trinitas Regional Medical Center te invita a un evento dedicado a la salud de las mujeres. En octubre, el mes de la concientización sobre el cáncer de mama, es importante desmentir algunos mitos que existen sobre esta enfermedad. Venga a celebrar con nosotros mientras aprendemos información sobre esta enfermedad, detección y los recursos en nuestra comunidad. Rifas y comida estará disponible para todos que atienden. 

Dr. Adriana Suarez-Ligon, Cirujana de mama;

Veronica Vasquez, Navegadora certificada para pacientes con cáncer de mama

Proceed Inc., 1122 E Grand St, Elizabeth, NJ Register at www.TrinitasRMC.org/TuFuturo

 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8 • 5:30 pm 

Keeping You a Step Ahead: 

A Conversation on Diabetes 

Prevention and Risk 

Trinitas invites you to gain essential insight into the com-plications, prevention, and practical treatments pertaining to diabetes. For many people diabetes symptoms go un-noticed because they “feel fine.” Individuals often find themselves diagnosed when it could have been pre-vented. For those who have diabetes, there is so much to learn about maintaining daily balance in diet and exer-cise, as well as treatment efforts. Join us for this for this potentially lifesaving conversation!

Dr. Ari Eckman, Chief, Division of Endocrinology, 

Diabetes & Metabolism

Register at www.TrinitasRMC.org/Diabetes

 

TCCC SUPPORT GROUPS

Conference Room A or Conference Room B

Trinitas Comprehensive Cancer Center 

225 Williamson Street, Elizabeth New Jersey 07207

All events take place from 1pm to 3pm. 

Call (908) 994-8535 for 2017 schedule. 

 

Living with Cancer 

Viviendo con Cáncer, Grupo De Apoyo 

Living with Breast Cancer

Viviendo con Cáncer de Mama

Caregiving Support Group

Viviendo con Cáncer, Grupo De Apoyo 

Viviendo con Cáncer, Apoyo Familiar

For more information on any TCCC support programs and to RSVP, please contact Roxanne Ruiz-Adams, LSW, (908) 994-8535. Por favor llame al (908) 994-8535 para confirmar su asistencia.

 

TRINITAS HEALTH FOUNDATION EVENTS 

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Annual Golf Classic & Spa Day 

Echo Lake Country Club, Westfield, NJ

For more information about the Foundation or to learn more about its fundraising events, (908) 994-8249 or nbrechner@trinitas.org.

Proceeds from these and other events benefit the patients of Trinitas Regional Medical Center. Making reservations for Foundation events is fast and easy on your American Express, MasterCard, Visa or Discover card!

 

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Health Services with Women In Mind

Trinitas helps provide women access to vital health services with a focus on preventive measures. These include educational programs and cancer screenings. Programs offered in English and Spanish.      

To learn more about these services, contact Amparo Aguirre, (908) 994-8244 or at amaguirre@trinitas.org  

 

Ask the Pharmacist: 

Medication Management 

Free of charge, by appointment only.

Monthly on the 4th Tuesday, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm  

Call (908) 994-5237  

 

TRINITAS CHILDREN’S THERAPY SERVICES

899 Mountain Avenue, Suite 1A, Springfield, NJ

(973) 218-6394

 

Winter Programs: 

October 9 – January 22 

All programs are offered one time per week, for 45 minutes at Trinitas Children’s Therapy Services, 

899 Mountain Avenue, Suite 1A, Springfield, NJ  07081

Our programs and/or group therapy sessions are a great alternative to individual therapy. They give children the opportunity to address key developmental areas in structured but busier environments that are more reflective of typical real-life home and school situations.  

Scribbles to Script 

An opportunity for children from preschool (prewriting) through elementary (cursive) school to work with an occupational therapist and participate in multi-sensory fine motor, visual-motor, and visual-perceptual activities to learn pre-writing skills, proper letter formation, and writing within the given lines using the Handwriting Without Tearsprogram. Help to reinforce learning and make writing fun!Preschool, Tuesdays 9:00 – 9:45, 4:00 – 4:45 Kindergarten, Tuesdays 9:00 – 9:45, 4:00 – 4:45

1st- 2nd Grade, Mondays 4:00 – 4:45

Cursive, Thursdays 4:00 – 4:45  

Sports Readiness

An opportunity for children to work with a physical therapist and have an introduction into several fall/winter sports in a non-competitive small group setting. 

Mondays 4:00 – 4:45

Social Butterflies 

An opportunity for children to work with a speech & language therapist and engage in activities to address turn taking, topic maintenance, appropriate question asking, following non-verbal cues, and using manners. Wednesdays 4:00 – 4:45  

Typing Whizkids 

An opportunity for children to work with an occupational therapist to learn efficient keyboarding/typing skills, including key location and finger placement, and speed and accuracy.  

Tuesdays 4:00 – 4:45  

To register for any programs or for more information, please contact Kevin Nelson at knelson@trinitas.org,(973) 218-6394, ext. 13, or fax (973) 218-6351. 

To learn more, visit www.childtherapynj.com 

 

MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUPS

Diabetes Management Support Group

Monthly, First Monday, 2:00 – 3:00 pm

Kathleen McCarthy, RN, CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator)  

Open to both diabetics and non-diabetics who want to learn more about diabetes prevention.

65 Jefferson Street, 2nd Floor, Elizabeth, New Jersey Call (908) 994-5502 for further information or registration 

 

Sleep Disorders 

If you or someone you know experiences problems sleeping, consider contacting the Trinitas Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center in Elizabeth. Another location can be found in Cranford at Homewood Suites by Hilton with easy access on and off the Garden State Parkway. Both centers are headed by a medical director who is board certified in sleep medicine, internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and intensive care medicine, and is staffed by seven certified sleep technologists. 

For further information, call (908) 994-8694 to learn more about the Trinitas Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center or visit www.njsleepdisorderscenter.org

 

Narcotics Anonymous

Monday 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Sunday 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm; Sunday 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Jean Grady, Community Liaison, (908) 994-7438 Grassmann Hall, 655 East Jersey St., Elizabeth

 

Alcoholics Anonymous

Friday 7:30 pm – 8:45 pm

Jean Grady, Community Liaison, (908) 994-7438 Grassmann Hall, 655 East Jersey St., Elizabeth

 

HIV Education and Support Program 

for HIV Positive Patients

Monthly. Call for scheduled dates/times.

Judy Lacinak, (908) 994-7605

Early Intervention Program Clinic, 655 Livingston St. Monastery Building, 2nd Floor, Elizabeth

 

Mental Illness Support Group (NAMI)

for Spanish Speaking Participants

4th Friday of each month except August, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Mike Guglielmino, (908) 994-7275

Martha Silva, NAMI 1-888-803-3413

6 South Conference Room, Williamson Street Campus 225 Williamson Street, Elizabeth

 

EDGE takes you inside the area’s most creative kitchens.

 

Paragon Tap & Table • Avocado Fillet Salad

77 Central Ave. • CLARK

(732) 931-1776 • paragonnj.com

Light, fresh and local is a key factor to our Spring menu at Paragon Tap and Table. We offer a fun, seasonal, multi cultural menu which is evident in the dish. This our Avocado Fillet salad which has local frisse, tomatoes, red onion finished with Chanadal which is an indian spiced dried lentil finished with a lemon oil and fresh mango. Light, refreshing and delicious. In addition to our seasonal and locally focused menu we also are home to one of the top craft Beer programs in NJ.

— Eric B. LeVine, Chef/Partner

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Wasabi Crusted Filet Mignon 

1230 Route 22 West • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 518-9733 • partyonthegrill.com

We prepare a crusted 8-ounce filet mignon served with gingered spinach, shitake mushrooms, and a tempura onion ring. 

 

Daimatsu • Sushi Pizza

860 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-7888 • daimatsusushibar.com

This original dish has been our signature appetizer for over 20 years. Crispy seasoned sushi rice topped with homemade spicy mayo, marinated tuna, finely chopped onion, scallion, masago caviar, and ginger. Our customers always come back wanting more. 

— Chef Momo

Publick House • Char Grilled Octopus 

899 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-2355 • publickhousenj.com

Our Char Grilled Octopus is becoming one of our best selling appetizers. It is braised for hours in herbs and spices until tender and then grilled to order to create a caramelized, crispy exterior. Served with a spicy chickpea puree and herbaceous pesto, the balance of textures and flavors proves to be a winning combination you don’t want to miss.

— Bernie Goncalves, Owner

The Barge • Cioppino 

201 Front Street • PERTH AMBOY

(732) 442-3000 • thebarge.com

Our Cioppino, the signature dish of San Francisco, features a fresh, healthy selection of clams, mussels, shrimp, Maine lobster and Jersey scallops—drizzled in Greek virgin olive oil, with fresh garlic and white wine—over homemade Italian linguini. I know it will become one of your favorite dishes.    

— Alex Vosinas Chef/Owner

Luciano’s Ristorante & Lounge • Warm Goat Cheese Salad

1579 Main Street • RAHWAY

(732) 815-1200 • lucianosristorante.com

The warm goat cheese salad with tender greens and a mulled cabernet dressing and toasted pine nuts is a signature appetizer at Luciano’s, where fresh ingredients and personable service in a beautiful Tuscan décor create a fine dining experience. Our menus are seasonally influenced to feature the best of what’s available in the market. 

— Joseph Mastrella, Executive Chef/Partner

Morris Tap & Grill • Steak and Egg Mac and Cheese

500 Route 10 West • RANDOLPH

(973) 891-1776 • morristapandgrill.com

We are known for innovative, local and sustainable foods, which l always make creative, fun and tasty. This twisted mac and cheese features local eggs and beef to create our Steak and Egg Mac and Cheese. In addition to our nationally recognized food (I’m a Featured Chef at the James Beard Foundation) MTG offers one of the top three Craft Beer menus in New Jersey.  

— Eric B LeVine, Chef/Partner

McLynn’s: Social Eatery and Bar • Jersey Breakfast Bar Pie

250 Morris Ave. • SPRINGFIELD

(973) 258-1600 • mclynns.com

Get in the Spirit! Our Jersey Breakfast Bar Pie features potatoes, Taylor ham, cheddar cheese and onions. It doesn’t get more Jersey than that!  

— Mark Houlker, Chef

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Volcano Roll 

23A Nelson Avenue • STATEN ISLAND, NY

(718) 966-9600 • partyonthegrill.com

Hot-out-of-the-oven, crab, avocado and cream cheese rolled up and topped with a mild spicy scallop salad.

 

Galloping Hill Caterers

Galloping Hill Road and Chestnut Street • UNION

(908) 686-2683 • gallopinghillcaterers.com

Galloping Hill Caterers has been an incredible landmark for nearly sixty years. We pride ourselves in delivering “over the top” cuisine, impeccable service and outstanding attention to detail. That is the hallmark of our success! Simply, an unforgettable experience. Pictured here is one of our crepes flambé that really creates lots of excitement!

— George Thomas, Owner

Vine Ripe Markets

430 North Avenue East • WESTFIELD

(908) 233-2424 • vineripemarkets.com

Summer cooking should be filled with easy to make, flavorful recipes. Grab your favorite shellfish, (i.e, lobster, clams, mussels or shrimp), add them to an aluminum tray with cherry tomatoes, red onion, corn, garlic, butter and a bottle of pinot grigio. Cover it tight and throw it on the grill! IT’S THAT SIMPLE! TIP: Cut a loaf of Italian bread in half, smother w. fresh garlic and butter then add to your grill for 5 minutes to get a nice crusty bread to dip in the broth!

— Frank Bruno, Chief Culinary Officer

Do you own a local restaurant and want to know how your BEST DISH could be featured 

in our Chef Recommends restaurant guide? 

Call us at 908.994.5138

America is often characterized as a nation of immigrants. That makes New Jersey America on steroids.  

By Mark Stewart

As much as any state in the nation over the past three-plus centuries, New Jersey has been defined culturally, socially, politically and economically by its newcomers. Decade after decade, our stunning diversity has supplied vital muscle and spirit to the state’s industrial, intellectual and artistic progress. Granted, things haven’t always gone smoothly—it is something of an American tradition to dump on the people who arrived in the U.S. right after you—but by and large, New Jersey has done a sensational job of absorbing its newcomers and leveraging their strengths.   

For all its faults and inefficiencies, the odd collection of 500-plus towns and cities that make up the Garden State has enabled every group of newcomers to gain an initial foothold and quickly begin to realize their potential. If anything, that is more true today than at any other time in our history—including the historic mass migration during the late-1800s and early-1900s.

Who are we? How did we get here? In order to know where we are going, it’s helpful to understand where we’ve been.

COLONIAL TIMES

New Jersey at the dawn of the Colonial Era was home to Dutch and Norwegian settlers. In 1638, Swedish and Finnish farmers began carving out space on both sides of the Delaware River, calling their settlement New Sweden. These were hardly gentleman farmers—many, in fact, had been banished from their homelands, with some presented with a choice between exile and the gallows. The Dutch focused their energies along the Hudson River, but their initial attempts at establishing settlements across the water from New Amsterdam (aka Manhattan), were thwarted by hostile natives. Not until 1660 did Dutch farmers gain a permanent foothold in New Jersey, on a rise between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers in present-day Jersey City.

By then, the Dutch were no longer calling the shots. In 1644, a quartet of English warships sailed into New York harbor and wrested control from the Dutch. It was a bloodless takeover; the Dutch were traders not warriors and were content to continue plying their trade under a British flag. As every New Jersey school kid learns (but you probably forgot), the crown transferred ownership to George Carteret and John Berkeley (above). They in turn sold off chunks of land and issued the Concessions of Agreement, which included an elected assembly, unfettered trade and freedom of religion (as long as the religion was Protestant). 

The relative freedom afforded by the Concessions of Agreement produced the desired effect: Settlers began pouring into the provinces of East Jersey and West Jersey, as the colony was known. Interestingly, the vast majority of newcomers were not from across the Atlantic, but from New England and Long Island, where the rules regarding government and religion were more constrictive. In 1664, Long Islanders established Elizabethtown and in 1664 refugees from Connecticut founded Newark.  In the west, William Penn and the Quakers, who were persecuted in England, settled in Burlington. In New Jersey’s interior, Dutch settlers from the Hudson Valley built vast farms, worked by indentured servants and African slaves. For nearly a century, visitors to New Jersey were more likely to hear Dutch spoken than English.

In 1702, East and West Jersey became New Jersey. The population at that time was around 15,000, with 10,000 people living in the eastern portion of the colony. By the time of the American Revolution, New Jersey’s population exploded, increasing more than tenfold. The boom was a combination of factors. People continued to migrate south from New England and New York. The colony’s fertile soil and plentiful resources triggered a spike in the birth rate. And transatlantic immigration had begun in full force. Scots-Irish (Protestants from Ireland whose recent ancestors had moved from Scotland) and Germans were the two biggest groups. Most of the German settlers continued on to Pennsylvania, where they maintained their culture as the “Pennsylvania Dutch” (Deutsch is actually the word—they aren’t Dutch at all). 

EARLY STATEHOOD

At the conclusion of the 18th century, at the dawn of its statehood, roughly seven in 10 New Jerseyans traced their heritage back to the British Isles, with the rest split between Dutch and Germans. Those demographics would change over the next century, but not as rapidly as one might assume. Although America in the early 1800s was a magnet for immigration. New Jersey’s population growth between 1790 and 1840 actually lagged behind neighboring states. Indeed, thousands of newcomers bypassed New Jersey and struck out for more promising farmland along the expanding frontier; most of the prime farmland in New Jersey was already under cultivation. New York and Philadelphia also attracted immigrants who might have settled in New Jersey. In addition, countless New Jerseyans seeking entrepreneurial opportunities during this period moved from rural areas to these major cities. 

Even so, New Jersey’s population more than doubled between the Revolution and Civil War. A very high percentage of that increase was “natural” or “internal”—the result of established, growing families. This contributed to a curious dynamic: People in New Jersey began to think of themselves as “native” Americans instead of transplanted Europeans. Unfortunately, his would make life extremely difficult for the next group of immigrants from across the Atlantic. 

Economic and political shifts in Europe during the Industrial Revolution drove many people to the United States in the mid-1800s. Those coming from England and Germany tended to be skilled and, often, educated workers who found immediate employment in New Jersey’s growing cities. The outlook for Irish immigrants arriving in America was not as bright. They tended to be unskilled laborers or tenant farmers driven overseas by starvation after a potato blight wiped out their primary source of food in the 1840s. They arrived penniless and unwanted. 

New Irish immigrants often lived in urban squalor, with nearly two-thirds qualifying by modern terminology as “working poor.” Irish men found work only as day laborers. Women between adolescence and marriage fared better as domestic help, and were often the primary breadwinners for their families. This was especially true in New Jersey, where the Irish made up fully half of the state’s new immigrants in the mid-1800s. The impact of the Irish and other new New Jerseyans was profound. They fueled the rapid growth of the state’s industrial centers and swelled the population, particularly in Hudson, Essex and Passaic Counties.  

The contributions of New Jersey’s 19th century immigrants went largely unrecognized at the time. America the Melting Pot may have been celebrated as a

model to the world in the 20th century. In the 19th century, however, few saw the value of a diverse society. In New Jersey, those who viewed themselves as “native born” controlled politics and business, and they wielded this power mercilessly. They also looked down on the state’s new arrivals for the way they enjoyed the country’s promise of freedom of religion. American Protestants in the early 1800s were extremely conservative. In New Jersey, they frowned upon the newcomers’ Sunday activities. After a 60-hour workweek, Europeans were not inclined to devote their off-day to quiet, dignified reflection. They wanted to have fun, picnic, play sports. They overran parks and public spaces, drawing the ire of Protestant groups.

The Irish suffered doubly for their Catholicism. Their loyalty to the United States was constantly questioned because of their fealty to the Pope. Also, a general distrust of Catholicism as being anti-democratic was pervasive in America at this time. The curriculum of New Jersey’s public schools in the pre-Civil War era tilted heavily toward Protestant teaching, to the point where some educators hoped to convert Catholic children. Not surprisingly, it was around this time when Catholic schools began popping up all over the state. Catholic families pulled their kids out of the public schools and also demanded that the state fund these parochial institutions with their tax dollars. Friction between Protestants and Catholics occasionally erupted into violence in New Jersey’s cities. In Newark, a procession of Irish Protestant societies marched into an Irish Catholic neighborhood and a full-fledged riot ensued. 

One thing that Irish immigrants brought from their homeland that served them well was their ability to organize against an oppressor. In Ireland, they defied British rule. In American cities, as Irish populations swelled (and created huge voting blocks) their leaders found opportunities in controlling local politics and, by extension, exerting their influence on labor organizations and municipal jobs, including police forces. By the end of the 1800s, their children and children’s children would come to think of themselves as the native New Jerseyans, but in a different way. Although the Irish were no longer newcomers, they remained keenly aware of the distinct aspects of their culture, and proud of them. Each immigrant group that subsequently arrived in the Garden State followed their example, contributing to New Jersey’s diverse cultural tableau.

THE FLOODGATES OPEN

The final decades of the 19th century saw an astonishing uptick in immigration. Greater stability in Western Europe stemmed the tide from England, Ireland and Germany. Now the “new” immigrants came from Eastern and Southern Europe—primarily Italy, Poland, Russia and Hungary. They were characterized as the dregs of Europe: unsophisticated, uneducated and incapable of contributing to a society where they didn’t even speak the language. The reality, of course, was far different. The so-called “great unwashed” and “huddled masses” actually tended to be young, healthy and ambitious. Many young men came to America alone, hoping to secure jobs that would enable them to bring their families over, or at least return home with money in their pockets. These immigrants ended up propelling the Industrial Revolution in the U.S.  to new heights with their minds and bodies, contributing to a wide array of industries and making game-changing contributions to science and the arts. 

Between 1880 and 1930, thanks largely to the inflow of European immigrants, New Jersey’s population nearly quadrupled, from just over one million to four million. Jersey City, Camden, Trenton and Newark became thriving urban centers during this time, while cities such as Paterson, Passaic and Elizabeth reached the height of their commercial power. The consumer culture that blossomed in America in the early 1900s was no more evident than in Newark, where retail space on Market and Broad Streets fetched higher rents than on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Tunnels, bridges and modern ports, built by recent immigrants—along with the children and grandchildren of immigrants—provided vital links to the rest of the country.  

The experience of New Jersey’s first Italian immigrants differed somewhat from that of the Irish. It’s worth noting because today the number of New Jerseyans who claim Italian or Irish heritage is roughly equal.  (The exact figures depend on who’s doing the counting, and what criteria they employ, but from a purely empirical standpoint it seems about right.) Thousands of Italian immigrants found employment in New Jersey’s agricultural sector. In South Jersey, near the Pinelands, where the land can be extremely uncooperative, Italian farmers—renowned for their ability to coax produce from sketchy soil—were actively recruited from remote villages. Agents sent to Southern Italy and Sicily by New Jersey land investors posted bills that promised free passage and 20 acres of land for strong men willing to farm their plots. Grapes grew particularly well in the area, which was eventually renamed Vineland. 

Most Italian immigrants to New Jersey settled in its urban areas, arriving in especially large numbers in the first two decades of the 20th century. In many cases, they “replaced” the Irish as the go-to day laborers, particularly in railroad and housing construction. Italian women, as a rule, did not work outside the home as domestics. They were more likely to contribute financially by doing piecework out of their homes. Few Italians spoke English when they arrived. They dealt with this disadvantage by establishing self-sufficient neighborhoods in cities like Newark, where Italian was the common tongue in the First Ward for decades. Within these neighborhoods were clusters of Italian families from specific villages, with their own patron saints and annual festivals. 

Immigrants from Eastern Europe often gravitated to the cities of Passaic and Paterson. At the turn of the 20th century they were home to dozens of enormous textile operations. Laborers from Russia, Poland and Hungary found steady employment in these businesses. They were paid poorly by mill owners and lived in crowded, dirty conditions. In 1920, Passaic might have been the nation’s most “foreign” city—85 percent of its population was either born outside the U.S. or were children of immigrants. In the crowded First Ward, only 1 in 100 residents could claim to be a “native” New Jerseyan.

A SENSE OF IDENTITY

Today. we often use terms like Italian-American, Irish-American and German-American out of cultural recognition or sensitivity. A century ago, these terms would actually have been more appropriate. Immigrants arriving in New Jersey did not come to “be Americans.” They came to be Italians in America or Irish in America or German in America. A national identity (in the modern sense) would not be truly galvanized until World War II. Indeed, when World War I began in 1914, New Jersey’s multi-ethnic makeup created some tricky issues. Irish-Americans, for instance, were critical of the U.S. government’s support of England. German-Americans and immigrants from Austria-Hungary tended to root for their countries of origin in the early days of the war. They were not anti-American per se, but their loyalties were certainly divided—particularly in 1914, when it was assumed that the fighting would end soon. 

Not surprisingly, once the U.S. was drawn into the war against Germany in 1917, German-Americans in New Jersey found themselves the target of hatred and suspicion. Hundreds were rounded up, often on the slimmest of pretenses, suspected of being saboteurs or enemy agents. 

Starting in the 1920s, the federal government put the clamps on mass immigration. What had been a flood became little more than a trickle. Restrictions and quotas during this time tended to favor Northern Europeans. With the exception of refugees following World War II, it was unusual to come across a “recent immigrant” in New Jersey. As a result, what had been distinct cultures slowly became Americanized, with traditions (and family names) handed down to children and grandchildren. By the 1960s, the only people with deep “accents” were probably 50 yeas old or older. 

THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT OF 1965

In the last 50 years, the majority of new New Jerseyans have come from Spanish-speaking countries and from Asia. In 1965, Congress passed sweeping immigration reforms that struck down the restrictive quota system that had been in place since the 1920s. The new rules gave preference to people who already had family members residing in the U.S., and to skilled laborers. In the ensuing decades, political upheaval in Latin America and a lack of economic opportunities in Asia sparked an explosion of “kin-based migration chains” from these regions of the world. At the same time, Europe had completed its recovery from World War II, so there was little incentive for Europeans to seek American citizenship. These two demographic trends combined to change the face of America—and particularly New Jersey. 

Because of its long history of cultural diversity, its economic opportunities and its proximity to major cities, New Jersey proved to be a particularly popular landing spot for immigrants from Asia and Latin America. The state’s current population of roughly 9 million represents 2.8% of the U.S. population, yet upwards of 6% of the country’s new immigrants settle here. That percentage may be even higher when undocumented individuals are taken into account. 

New Jersey’s Asian population grew steadily in the 1970s and 1980s to more than 250,000. From 1990 to 2000 it jumped dramatically, by nearly 100 percent. The largest groups were made up of immigrants from India, followed by China and the Philippines. Today, there are significant Indian populations in the towns of Edison and Iselin, as well as in Jersey City, which has the largest Indian population in the state, estimated at over 25,000. At 10.9% of the city’s total population, it is the most ethnically Indian of any major city in the country. “Little India” along Newark Avenue is home to Hindu temples, Indian restaurants and grocery stores, and the site of numerous celebrations, including the Navratri festival each autumn.

New Jersey’s Korean population is centered around Palisades Park in Bergen County, including the neighboring towns of Fort Lee, Leonia and Tenafly. In the 1970s and 1980s, the first wave of immigrants included a high percentage of  famously hardworking but unskilled laborers. Over the last quarter-century, the socioeconomic and educational profile of Korean immigrants to New Jersey has risen dramatically. 

There are some really interesting demographics out there on other Asian-American groups in New Jersey, particularly those claiming Chinese and Filipino heritage. However, taking a deep dive into those numbers can be tricky. The last U.S. census was in 2010, so the most accurate statistics on who New Jerseyans are and where they live are a mish-mash of seven-year-old census records and data collected by various studies—some by academics and others by state agencies like the New Jersey Department of Labor. Which is to say they are inherently inaccurate. It will be fascinating to see how rapidly the state’s demographics have shifted when the 2020 census results come out. Much of the data collection will be done via the Internet, which adds an additional wrinkle to the process. What can be said with some certainty at this point about

New Jersey’s Asian population is that—

as a percentage of the overall population—it ranks third in the nation behind Hawaii and California. 

Americans of Asian descent number roughly 20 million, making up around 6% of the U.S. population. In New Jersey, the percentage is around 10%. 

LATINO NEW JERSEY

Historically, the state’s Latino Hispanic communities tend to form in its urban centers. They make up the majority of residents in seven cities of 25,000 or more: Fairview, Paterson, Elizabeth, North Bergen, Dover, Passaic, Perth Amboy, West New York and Union City. In Perth Amboy, West New York and Union City, more than three in four residents is Latino. Although one tends to think of Spanish-speaking communities as heavily immigrant, the fact is that roughly three in five Latinos living in the state were born in the United States.  

Starting in the 1950s, New Jersey’s Cuban population—many from Fomento and Villa Clara in central Cuba—coalesced around Union City. The Cuban population spread north and south in the ensuing decades and, today, some call this stretch of waterfront “Havana on the Hudson.” Another New Jersey city that became a landing place for immigrants from a specific country is Paterson, which has seen its Peruvian population grow dramatically. The city’s downtown area has been called “Little Lima” or “Little Peru.” Old-timers recall that this neighborhood had once been nicknamed “Dublin” for its heavy Irish population and the line of mills along the Passaic River—and then “Little Italy,” after another wave of European immigrants arrived. Paterson’s Main Street still boasts a Little Italy section, as well as distinct Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Mexican neighborhoods.

New Jersey’s Mexican population has experienced stunning growth. In little more than a generation (since 1990) it has increased more than 800 percent, from around 30,000 to more than a quarter-million. Overall, the Hispanic population in New Jersey grew by two-and-half times during the same period. Mexicans now represent the second-largest Hispanic population in the state, behind Puerto Ricans and just ahead of Dominicans, who make up the largest group from a Caribbean nation. That being said, New Jersey is home to more than 450,000 people who trace their heritage to Puerto Rico. Only New York and Florida have larger Puerto Rican populations. For most of the 20th century, Puerto Rican communities were concentrated in the urban centers of Hudson and Essex Counties, including Newark, Elizabeth and Jersey City. Large Puerto Communities are now located in Paterson, Camden, Trenton, Vineland and Perth Amboy. Puerto Rican migration to the U.S. began in the 1920s, but it wasn’t until the 1950s and 1960s that New Jersey became a popular destination.  

Which part of the world will send New Jersey its next “wave” of newcomers? With the world’s climate changing, food stress may serve as the trigger. History teaches us that people are often willing to live in fear of war or violence, but nothing moves populations like the fear of starvation. That makes parts of Africa and the Middle East prime candidates. Alas, once thing is certain: Whoever has the fortitude, ambition and luck to make it to America, they can count on finding a Welcome mat in the Garden State.  

JEWS IN NEW JERSEY

Like most newcomers to the state, Jewish immigrants created insulated communities within New Jersey’s cities, specifically Newark, Paterson and Camden. The Weequahic section of Newark—a city that at one time claimed more than 75,000 Jewish residents—was perhaps the state’s most famous. The initial wave of Jewish immigrants were German Jews during the mid-1800s. They were extremely influential in the state’s economic growth. At the turn of the century, Jewish immigrants were more likely to come from Russia, Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe, where they were victims of persecution. In the years after World War II, Jewish families that could afford to move to the Garden State’s rapidly expanding suburbs did so.Today, New Jersey’s Jewish populations are predominantly located in suburbs, as opposed to urban centers or “exurbs.” Today there are approximately 550,000 Jews living in New Jersey. The Ocean County town of Lakewood is home to one of the nation’s largest Orthodox communities, which makes up more than half of Lakewood’s population. Beth Medrash Govoha, one of the world’s most heralded rabbinical colleges, is located in the town.

THE BLACK EXPERIENCE

African-Americans were among the earliest settlers in New Jersey, although often they had no say in the matter. They were imported as slave labor from Africa or the West Indies by the Dutch and the English. Perth Amboy and Camden were major ports of entry for the trade. While New Jersey had a significant population of “free blacks” in the 1700s, at the time of the American Revolution there were more than 10,000 slaves in the state. The vast majority labored on farms or in ports, which were New Jersey’s two major industries. That explains why it took the state legislature until 1804 to outlaw slavery—and then only gradually. For decades after, many children born to New Jersey slaves were classified as “apprentices” to the owners of their parents into their 20s and beyond. Not until the 13th Amendment was passed in 1865 were the final 16 African-Americans still serving “apprenticeships” legally free.  

New Jersey’s African-American population did not undergo significant growth until World War I, when demand for industrial laborers in the urbanized North and Midwest triggered the “Great Migration” of more than 1.5 million blacks from the rural South between 1916 and 1930. A second wave estimated at nearly 5 million left the South for the North, West and Midwest in the quarter-century after World War II. 

Today, African-Americans make up the majority of residents in six cities of 25,000 or more: Newark, Camden, East Orange, Irvington, Willingboro and Orange. There are also large numbers of African-American families in Jersey City, Trenton, Paterson, Plainfield, Passaic and Lakewood. About 1.2 million people in New Jersey identify themselves as “black” or African-American.

 

We welcome the community to our programs that are designed to educate and inform. Programs are subject to change.

SEMINARS

Seminars, unless otherwise noted, will be held at the CORE Building, 1164 Elizabeth Ave., Elizabeth, NJ

(Enter parking lot from South Broad St., next to Fire House) Register online or call (908) 994-8939.  

 

THURSDAY, JUNE 8  • 5:30 pm 

How Safe is Your Home? 

There are different methods to keep your home safe including security systems and fire alarms. Find out what your options are and see what’s right for you.

Diana Youssef and Krystle Rodriguez, Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinators, Habitat of Humanity   

Register at www.TrinitasRMC.org/HomeSafety  

 

THURSDAY, JUNE 15  • 5:30 pm 

Alzheimer’s Diseases:  Life after Diagnosis

Learning to cope with this diagnosis is a process. Join these experts as they discuss exercises, activities, and other means of support that can be integrated into your treatment plan. Caregivers and family members are welcome.

Tim Clyne, BA, MSN, RN, CDP, Nurse Manager, HELP Program; Diane Reehil, MSN, GNP, CNN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, HELP Program; Johanna Thomas, BA, CDP, Elder Life Intervention Clinician, HELP Program

Register at www.TrinitasRMC.org/AlzheimersAwareness

 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 5 & JULY 12 WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 6 & SEPT. 13

AARP Driver Safety Classroom Course 

Earn a 5%-10% discount on auto insurance or two points deducted from your driving record. Two classes must be taken consecutively in order to gain credit for the class.

$15 for AARP members (must bring card for validation)

$20 for Non AARP members

Must bring a valid driver’s license. 

Space is limited and registration is required.

Call 908-994-8939 to register.  

 

TCCC SUPPORT GROUPS

Conference Room A or Conference Room B

Trinitas Comprehensive Cancer Center 

225 Williamson Street, Elizabeth New Jersey 07207

All events take place from 1pm to 3pm. 

Call (908) 994-8535 for 2017 schedule. 

Living with Cancer 

Viviendo con Cáncer, Grupo De Apoyo 

Living with Breast Cancer

Viviendo con Cáncer de Mama

Caregiving Support Group

Viviendo con Cáncer, Grupo De Apoyo 

Viviendo con Cáncer, Apoyo Familiar

For more information on any TCCC support programs and to RSVP, please contact Roxanne Ruiz-Adams, LSW, (908) 994-8535. Por favor llame al (908) 994-8535 para confirmar su asistencia.

 

TRINITAS HEALTH FOUNDATION EVENTS

THURSDAY, JUNE 22 • 8:00 am 

9th Annual Andrew H. Campbell Sporting Clays Tournament

Hudson Farm Club, Andover, NJ

 

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Annual Golf Classic & Spa Day 

Echo Lake Country Club, Westfield, NJ

For more information about the Foundation or to learn more about its fundraising events, (908) 994-8249 or nbrechner@trinitas.org.

Proceeds from these and other events benefit the patients of Trinitas Regional Medical Center. Making reservations for Foundation events is fast and easy on your American Express, MasterCard, Visa or Discover card!

 

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Health Services with Women In Mind

Trinitas helps provide women access to vital health services with a focus on preventive measures. These include educational programs and cancer screenings. Programs offered in English and Spanish.      

To learn more about these services, contact Amparo Aguirre, (908) 994-8244 or at amaguirre@trinitas.org  

Ask the Pharmacist:  Medication Management

Free of charge, by appointment only.

Monthly on the 4th Tuesday, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm  

Call (908) 994-5237  

 

MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUPS

Diabetes Management Support Group

Monthly, First Monday, 2:00 – 3:00 pm

Kathleen McCarthy, RN, CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator)  

Open to both diabetics and non-diabetics who want to learn more about diabetes prevention.

65 Jefferson Street, 2nd Floor, Elizabeth, New Jersey Call (908) 994-5502 for further information or registration 

 

Sleep Disorders

If you or someone you know experiences problems sleeping, consider contacting the Trinitas Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center in Elizabeth. Another location can be found in Cranford at Homewood Suites by Hilton with easy access on and off the Garden State Parkway. Both centers are headed by a medical director who is board certified in sleep medicine, internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and intensive care medicine, and is staffed by seven certified sleep technologists.

For further information, call (908) 994-8694 to learn more about the Trinitas Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center or visit www.njsleepdisorderscenter.org

 

Narcotics Anonymous

Monday 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Sunday 12:00 noon – 2:00 pm; Sunday 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Jean Grady, Community Liaison, (908) 994-7438 Grassmann Hall, 655 East Jersey St., Elizabeth

 

Alcoholics Anonymous

Friday 7:30 pm – 8:45 pm

Jean Grady, Community Liaison, (908) 994-7438 Grassmann Hall, 655 East Jersey St., Elizabeth

 

HIV Education and Support Program  for HIV Positive Patients

Monthly. Call for scheduled dates/times.

Judy Lacinak, (908) 994-7605

Early Intervention Program Clinic, 655 Livingston St. Monastery Building, 2nd Floor, Elizabeth

 

Mental Illness Support Group (NAMI) for Spanish Speaking Participants

4th Friday of each month except August, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Mike Guglielmino, (908) 994-7275

Martha Silva, NAMI 1-888-803-3413

6 South Conference Room, Williamson Street Campus 225 Williamson Street, Elizabeth

 

TRINITAS CHILDREN’S THERAPY SERVICES

899 Mountain Avenue, Suite 1A, Springfield, NJ • (973) 218-6394

 

“10 Tips…” Workshops 

Come take part in the 7th year of our highly successful Ten Tips Workshop Series. The series is for parents, teachers, or other individuals who work with young children and focus on practical strategies that can be easily implemented into daily classroom and/or home routines. All of our workshops offer suggestions that are appropriate for all children with an emphasis placed on children with special needs and those who may be on the Autism Spectrum. 

All workshops take place at the Trinitas Children’s Therapy Services Center, 899 Mountain Ave, Suite 1A, Springfield NJ. Workshops are $15 each.  

June 13, 2017   6:00 pm – 7:30 pm      

10 Tips for Building Gross Motor Skills 

into Large Group Activities   

For more information or to register for this last workshops, please contact Christine German, OTD, OTR, at  (973) 218-6394, ext. 4012, or email CGerman@trinitas.org

Summer Programs: 

July 5-August 18    

All programs are offered one time per week, for 45 minutes at Trinitas Children’s Therapy Services, 

899 Mountain Avenue, Suite 1A, Springfield, NJ  07081

These programs and/or group therapy sessions are a great alternative to individual therapy. They give children the opportunity to address key developmental areas 

in structured but busier environments that are more reflective of typical real-life home and school situations. Classes are grouped by skill and age level.  

Scribbles to Script 

Children from preschool (prewriting) through elementary school (cursive) have the opportunity to use the Handwrit-ing Without Tears program to learn pre-writing skills, proper letter formation, and writing within the given lines. Multi-sensory fine motor, visual-motor, and visual-perceptual activities help to reinforce learning and make writing fun!  45-minute classes held once weekly.  

Sports 1 Step at a Time 

Children between the ages of 4 & 12 will have the opportunity to work with a PT to refine their skill set for several sports, including soccer, basketball, and kickball, in a non-competitive group setting.  45-minute sessions held once weekly. 

Lil Group, Mondays 4:00 – 4:45  

Biggie Group, Mondays 5:00 – 5:45 

Typing Whiz Kids

Children from 1st grade through middle school will participate in functional tasks that will allow them to learn efficient keyboarding/typing skills. From key location and finger placement, to speed and accuracy children will learn this valuable skill the correct way while working with an OT.  45-minute sessions held once weekly. 

Lil Group, Tuesdays 4:00 – 4:45  

Biggie Group, Tuesdays 5:00 – 5:45  

Social Butterflies 

Children between the ages of 4 & 12 have the opportunity to become social butterflies by engaging in fun non-challenging therapeutic activities overseen by a speech & language pathologist.  Skills taught include turn taking, topic maintenance, appropriate question asking, following  non-verbal cues, and using manners. 45-minute sessions held once weekly. 

Lil Group, Wednesdays 4:00 – 4:45  

Biggie Group, Wednesdays 5:00 – 5:45 

Learn to Ride Bike Riding Lessons 

Children will learn this vital childhood skill in a non-competitive environment with a highly trained therapist. Sessions are run in 60-minute periods of time.  Dates and times can be organized to the client’s availability. Call to schedule.

(Children require 1 – 3, 60 min sessions)

7th Annual Camp Trinitas

Now accepting registrations for Summer 2017 

The program is the perfect opportunity to have children gain new skills or maintain recently-learned motor and academic skills without a full day or even full week commit-ment. Sign up for as many days or weeks as you would like. Sign up for a ½ day or a full day. 

We will now be located off-site, with a classroom, an outdoor space, a playground, a kitchen, and a larger gym area!  We will now be offering the option of either a ½ day or a full day!Allow your child to participate in a camp directly organized and supervised by skilled clinicians in their respective fields. Camp Trinitas is run by OT’s, PT’s, speech therapists, and ABA clinicians, to address each child’s specific needs. Monday thru Friday 8:30 – 4:00

½ Day OR Full Day 

To register for any programs or for more information, please contact Kevin Nelson at knelson@trinitas.org,(973) 218-6394, ext. 13, or fax (973) 218-6351. 

To learn more, visit www.childtherapynj.com 

This page is sponsored by

Elizabethtown Healthcare Foundation

Inspired to Care, Inspired to Give

TRINITAS HEALTH FOUNDATION HONORS HEALTHCARE HEROES 

Hundreds of Trinitas friends and donors danced the night away at the Champions of Care Gala on Thursday, May 4th at The Venetian in Garfield, NJ. This beautiful black tie event honored Connie Dwyer with the Humanitarian Award and Quest Diagnostics with the Celebrating Philanthropy Award, and raised over $400,000 to benefit the patients of Trinitas! Join us next year! Please contact Joanne McGann at (908) 994-8249 for information about Trinitas fundraising events. Photo to left: From left to right: Bob Dwyer, Catherine Flynn, Esq. (Chair, Trinitas Health Foundation Board of Directors), Nadine Brechner (Chief Development Officer), Honoree Connie Dwyer (Founder, Connie Dwyer Breast Cancer Foundation), Gary Horan (President & CEO, Trinitas Health & RMC), Victor Richel (Chairman, Trinitas Health & RMC Board). Photo to Right: The Quest Diagnostics Team posed with Trinitas’ very own Stephen Bonventre, Trustee (Trinitas Health Foundation), Catherine Flynn, Nadine Brechner, and Gary Horan. To the right of Horan, Stuart Paul, General Manager for the East Region of Quest Diagnostics was the Gala award recipient!

 

IT’S “GAME ON” AT THE JUNE 2017 CLAY SHOOT

The 9th Annual Andrew H. Campbell Memorial Sporting Clays Tournament will take place on Thursday, June 22 at Hudson Farm Club in Andover, NJ. This annual event is a partnership between the family and friends of Andrew H. Campbell and the Trinitas Health Foundation.

“Since Andrew H. Campbell’s death in 2007, his family has chosen to continue his dedication to Trinitas by establishing the Andrew H. Campbell Memorial Endowment in his memory,” explains Nadine Brechner, Chief Development Officer, Trinitas Health Foundation. “As former chairman of the Board of Elizabeth General Medical Center and later chairman of Trinitas Health and Hospital, Andy Campbell played an integral role in the merger that created Trinitas. He later  worked tirelessly to set the direction for Trinitas that now serves more than 400,000 patients each year.”

The Clay Shoot welcomes both experienced and inexperienced shooters.  For those who don’t wish to participate in the traditional shooting experience, a guided nature photo “shoot” option is available as well.  The event will conclude with a fantastic pig roast and an awards presentation. Proceeds will benefit the Trinitas Nursing Scholarship Program.  

For further information about this event, contact Nadine Brechner or Joanne McGann at Trinitas Health Foundation, (908) 994-8249.

 

WE’RE ALMOST THERE! 

If you have visited us lately, you know that big things are happening at Trinitas! We are in the home stretch of an $18.7 million state-of-the-art expansion and renovation of our Emergency Department, which will decrease wait times and increase patient safety, comfort and satisfaction. This expansion—which will also create special areas for children, seniors and behavioral health patients—will be completed in August 2017.

We have raised almost $16 million to date. We are very proud to say that Trinitas board members, physicians, leadership and staff have come together and donated over $2.5 million to this important project, showing their commitment to providing the highest level of care to all the patients we serve. 

Would you like to be a part of all the excitement? To find out how you can help the patients of Trinitas and have your gift matched dollar-for-dollar by the JC Kellogg Foundation, please call Nadine Brechner or Rob Eccles at the Trinitas Health Foundation at (908) 994-8249.

TRINITAS IN THE WINNERS CIRCLE 

On February 25, 2017 hundreds of Trinitas supporters joined us at the Meadowlands Racetrack for Trinitas Health Foundation’s 13th Annual Evening at the Races. Attendees enjoyed a great night of action for an important cause, by joining us in the Winners Circle to benefit the patients of Trinitas Regional Medical Center! For information about attending or sponsoring upcoming events please call Joanne McGann at (908) 994-8249. Pictured above, Gary S. Horan, FACHE, President & CEO of Trinitas RMC (center), took in the race with wife Arlene Horan (left) and Chris & Karen Horan.

SNYDER FOUNDATION LEAVES  LASTING IMPRESSION    

Representatives from the Harold B. and Dorothy A. Snyder Foundation (left) visited Trinitas Regional Medical Center to get a firsthand look at the Emergency Department’s (ED) amazing transformation. Top on their list was a tour of the ED’s new Diagnostic Imaging Unit, since their generous grant helped pay for the unit’s technologically advanced 128 Slice CT Scan. This state-of-the-art equipment allows physicians to diagnose and treat patients far more quickly than ever before. The trustees pictured left stand proudly by their plaque in the Diagnostic Unit, which commemorates their beloved trustee Phyllis Snyder and honors the Snyder Foundation for their generous contribution.

 

I’m a landscape and nature photographer focusing on the Two Rivers area of Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA. Born and raised in Fair Haven, I was surrounded by the outdoors. From living in beautiful Monmouth County, to childhood family camping trips to majestic Maine, I developed an appreciation for nature at an early age. I feel very fortunate to have grown up here on the peninsula.
I started a landscape company at the age of 15 while attending Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School. After earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism at Rutgers University, I decided to expand my landscaping business.
Working outdoors has given me plenty of subject material for my photography hobby. I find myself focusing on both land and seascapes. Early morning sunrises are my favorite. I also try to incorporate the moon or a planet which adds to the challenge. I don’t think I’ll ever get bored striving for the “perfect shot.”
Website: www.SteveScanlonPhoto.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stevescanlonphotography
Phone: 732-741-3778
E-mail: steve@scanlawn.com

News, views and insights on maintaining a healthy edge.

Casualties of the  Anti-Vaccine Movement 

A discredited 1998 study linking autism with childhood vaccines triggered a “debate” that will soon enter its third decade. Despite overwhelming evidence that no such link exists, anti-vaccine movements are responsible for the re-emergence of measles and other diseases that are preventable by vaccines. Just as distressing to people in the medical field is that the public is largely unaware of environmental factors that have been linked to autism. According to the biomedical news service STAT, they include exposure to valproic acid (an epilepsy drug) during pregnancy, high levels of air pollution during pregnancy, and extreme illness or infection during pregnancy. Obesity and the advanced age of the mother or father may, in some cases, be contributing factors. Exposure to these factors can increase a child’s chances of developing autism by two to four times.

“This is in line with what we are learning regarding the complex pathway to neurodevelopmental disorder,” says Lucille Esralew, Ph.D. “Increasingly, we are looking to environmental and lifestyle factors as important in the expression of genes and in the development of neurodevelopmental disorders. Insofar as we can modify lifestyle and environmental factors identified in the literature as increasing the risk of autism, we  may be successful in reducing the overall occurrence of autism.”

 

Smooth But Unsatisfying 

Long before the dangers of cigarette smoking were widely known, menthol cigarettes were considered an “acquired taste.” Researchers at the Rutgers School of Public Health were curious what makes today’s young smokers gravitate to menthols, beyond their longtime status in the tobacco industry as “starter products.” Their study involved 6 groups of menthol smokers ages 18 to 24 in New Jersey; three of the groups were made up of African-American smokers, a group that has represented a high percentage of menthol cigarette buyers. Almost half of the study participants indicated that all or most of their first cigarettes were menthol flavored. Menthol cigarette initiation was heavily influenced by use among their friends and perceptions that menthol cigarettes were the type of cigarettes that were popular, normal, and accepted in their communities.

Most said that the “cool,” “minty” and “refreshing” taste (qualities that masked the harshness of tobacco) was why they preferred menthol cigarettes. The study supports efforts by the FDA and other anti-tobacco groups to ban menthol cigarettes, which have been excluded from a longtime government ban on flavored cigarettes.

 

Climate Change and Gastric Health 

Have you ever had a “gut feeling” that something was different about the weather? Apparently, you’re not alone. In one of the first studies of its kind, a team of researchers at Florida State University found a correlation between climate change and the gastrointestinal health of people who drink unfiltered water. More than 20 million Americans fall into this category. The study predicts that in areas where an uptick in rainfall is expected in the coming years—including the Midwest and Northeast—communities with inadequate water filtration can expect a rise of between 1.5 and 3.6 percent in gastrointestinal illnesses. The study suggests that higher rainfall totals introduce more disease-causing elements into the groundwater. Children are at the greatest risk; one in 15 with gastrointestinal illnesses ends up being hospitalized.

 

Knowing the Drill 

Robotic surgery appears to be entering an era of geometric growth. From a handful of recent wow-factor devices like the DaVinci surgical system at Trinitas, there will soon be specialized robots to handle all kinds of delicate and invasive procedures. The latest one comes out of Switzerland, where researchers at the University of Bern are working with a robot created to drill tiny holes in the human skull to enable the implantation of cochlear implants. Cochlear implants transmit sound from an external microphone in the human ear to the auditory nerve. This requires a surgeon to drill a perfect 2.5-millimeter tunnel through an area of the skull surrounded by nerves that impact taste and facial movement. The robot has been in testing for several months and is now accurate to within .4 millimeters (and getting better). As it approaches “perfection,” doctors hope the robot will play a role in delicate brain operations.

 

Winning the Sleep Lottery 

How important is sleep to your happiness and health? A new study out of England, reported in Sleep magazine, looked at 30,500 individuals over four years and determined that the people who enjoyed the highest quality and quantity of sleep had mental and physical health comparable to that of lottery winners. Conversely, people who struggled with sleep—or depended on pills to get a solid night’s rest—demonstrated a decline in their physical and mental state. The results support a growing movement in the medical field to approach sleep as a cheap and simple public health strategy.

“Getting a good night’s sleep is an essential part of healthy living,” says Vipin Garg, MD, Director of the Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center at Trinitas (njsleepdisorderscenter.com). The center provides a monitored, fully attended diagnostic sleep study designed to rule out physical, non-stress related symptoms that may prevent restful sleep. 

 

Foot Pain &  Rheumatoid Arthritis 

According to a recent survey published in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, around half the people diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) are already experiencing significant foot pain at the time of their initial diagnosis. Given that RA patients spend significant time under the care of health professionals, the study suggests that general practitioners need to discuss foot health with their patients, and that doctors need to be more aware of the detrimental impact of declining foot health. RA itself has a significant impact on foot-related issues, the study points out, including deformity, ulcerations and vascular and neurological problems. Patients should not be shy about initiating conversations about foot pain with their GPs, especially if there is a change in the level of discomfort. 

By serving the underserved, Trinitas helps promote the power of pink. 

By Christine Gibbs

In 1977, Susan Goodman Komen was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33.  She died three years later. Her younger sister, Nancy Goodman Brinker, in honoring a promise made to Susan to promote the fight against breast cancer, fulfilled that vow by starting a foundation in her sister’s name, in 1982. Later the name was changed to Susan G. Komen for the Cure with the ambitious goal to end breast cancer forever. Today, the organization is often simply referred to as Susan G. Komen or simply Komen. More than 100,000 volunteers work at the more than 120 Komen affiliates active in more than 18,000 communities across the country—which have awarded more than $93 million in community grants to bring needs-based screening and treatment resources to women most in need of them. In addition to the generous grants, Komen invests tens of millions of dollars to further ongoing research.      

Nearer to home, one of the Komen Affiliates—Susan G. Komen of North Jersey—has just celebrated the 20th year of its dedication to fulfilling the national organization’s mission. As part of the network of Komen affiliates, Komen North Jersey has awarded more than $16 million in community grants to qualifying non-profit organizations in their nine-county territory. Among them is Trinitas Regional Medical Center, which has received a total of more than $1 million in grants. 

In early April of this year, the Affiliate hosted its signature Pink Tie event, honoring its original founders, Deborah Q. Belfatto, Lisa Herschli and Kathy Hubert-McKenna. As a breast cancer survivor, Belfatto—founder and former Executive Director of Komen North Jersey—takes their responsibilities very personally and very seriously. Belfatto worked tirelessly to establish a Komen Affiliate in North Jersey after learning that 75% of all money raised would stay local. She says she became “hooked on the Komen formula” as a perfect fit for the greater North Jersey area.

Why Trinitas? Belfatto recognized the medical center’s dedication to “serving the underserved.” Trinitas, she adds, over the years has continued to over-deliver on its services to a blended population relative to their grant promises.

The TRMC Commitment

Trinitas provides one-stop breast cancer resources through its Women’s Imaging Center, a $3.8 million investment in radiologic imaging. Included among the services are FDA-approved low-dose mammography, minimally invasive stereotactic breast imaging, and ultrasound-guided aspiration/biopsy. The emphasis at Trinitas is to extend much-needed help to women with limited or no resources in getting through their battles with breast cancer. Given that their missions are so closely aligned, the Trinitas/Komen partnering has flourished for almost 16 years. Their ongoing relationship is a tribute to the Komen belief in the value of networking and partnership within the local community.

Much has changed since Belfatto first got involved in the fight against breast cancer. Back in the 1980s, she recalls, treatment was a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Thankfully today, treatment regimens are highly personalized and more specific to particular cancers. As a result, the survival rate for breast cancer has improved dramatically—although sadly 1 out of every 8 women in her lifetime in the U.S. will still confront a breast cancer diagnosis. Progress has been made, but much work remains to be done. As for her approach to the Komen cause and to life in general, Belfatto sums it up in four words: persistence, perseverance, passion and patience. And she never takes No for an answer. 

In recognition of Deb Belfatto’s participation in the grant review process of Komen North Jersey—and her continued support of Trinitas as a consistently worthy grantee—she was invited to join the Trinitas Health Foundation Board in 2013. She reciprocated by extending her own ultimate compliment in noting that Trinitas is “one of the most selfless hospitals with whom I have ever worked.”

Event Horizon

Kathi Edelson Wolder. Who heads up Marketing and PR for Komen North Jersey, is another example of a totally committed member of the Komen support network. She was recently named a Komen Angel and her portrait hangs in the gallery of Komen’s Journey of Courage. Wolder parlayed her professional marketing experience into furthering the success of Komen North Jersey affiliate events. Most recently, she was instrumental in marking the 20th anniversary celebration of Komen North Jersey with one of the most successful “Pink Tie” gala celebrations. Starting in 1997, there have been 16 Pink Tie Balls that have contributed to the total $23 million that Komen North Jersey has invested in lifesaving research and local community grants. The most successful affair was sponsored in 2005 by Continental Airlines and held in Newark Airport—with 1,400 guests attending and $2.1 million raised. Wolder and Belfatto say it was “magical, like make-believe in the glory days” of formal extravaganzas.

Recently, the Pink Tie Ball underwent a name change. It is now known as the Pink Tie Party. The younger generation is less formal, Wolder explains, although pink bow ties were as always the neckwear of choice on the dance floor. She is busy focusing on helping to cultivate “a new regime” among the up-and-coming younger generation, who bring the limitless possibilities of the digital age to the Komen communication and publicity efforts. Whether it’s called a “ball” or a “party,” a fun atmosphere prevails and successful fundraising is accomplished. The latest event was attended by almost 500 supporters and grossed $500,000, which will soon be put to good use through Komen grants.

What powers the efforts of Belfatto and Wolder? Their belief in the future of the fight against breast cancer through the support of what they have labeled “Merging of the Ages”—i.e., young and energized Gen-X and Millennial supporters. Belfatto says it’s like being “surrounded by rock stars in the breast cancer community.”  EDGE

Editor’s Note: Nothing makes Deb and Kathi happier or more hopeful about keeping the movement strong than to look into the faces of the future within Komen North Jersey and beyond. They continue to encourage survivors and co-survivors of all ages to continue their support of Susan G. Komen North Jersey and its events, including the Race for the Cure, which takes place each May.

 

MILESTONES 

1969 Mammogram invented

1980 Susan G. Komen dies at age 36

1982 Nancy Brinker establishes the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation

1984 Nancy Brinker is diagnosed with breast cancer and survives

1986 First Breast Cancer Awareness Month

1991 Komen pink ribbon becomes national symbol

1995 Race for the Cure events are held in 57 U.S. cities

2002 More than 1.3 million participate in 100 Race for the Cure events worldwide

2008 25th anniversary of Race for the Cure

2017 More than 3.1 million breast cancer survivors in the US today 

2026 Target date to reduce deaths by breast cancer by 50%

 

TAKING NOTHING FOR GRANTED

Komen North Jersey works with professionals and community leaders to perform a comprehensive needs assessment, the Community Profile, every 5 years as the basis for grant application. Funds awarded from Komen grants are restricted in that the money must be used to provide vital breast health services and treatments and are never comingled with general operating funds. 

 

Dr. Pedro Cordero is the ultimate one-man show.

By Yolanda Navarra Fleming

For Dr. Pedro Cordero, a Roselle-based General and Vascular Surgeon, the expression “going out on a limb” has daily significance. In his practice, during the course of more than 35 years, he says, “I’ve saved hundreds and hundreds of legs.” Among other things, he treats dialysis patients and those with vascular problems including non-healing ulcers of the feet or lack of circulation, and specializes in laser surgery for vein treatments for varicosities, spider veins, and  carotid surgery in the Ambulatory Surgery Center at Trinitas Regional Medical Center.      

“I’m not on the teaching circuit or doing research or anything else,” Dr. Cordero reiterates. “I’m doing what I love: saving limbs.”

By any measure, his work is impeccable. 

“The results I’ve gotten over the years,” he confirms, “are better than the national average.”

Indeed, Dr. Cordero is proud of the fact that he has performed more than 800 carotid endarterectomy surgeries, with very few complications and zero deaths. In addition to a high success rate, it’s worth noting that his is a solo practice in a corner of the world where group practices are more common.

“As a solo practitioner, I am unique,” he explains. “There are different boards in surgery, and if you want to distinguish yourself, you specialize and join a group, and that’s all you do. You can’t be good at everything. But if you go to a group practice nowadays, you may not see the same doctor twice. As a patient, I like to see the same doctor because there’s a level of trust and comfort that develops over time.”

Dr. Cordero was born in Cuba in 1950. At the age of 9, he immigrated with his brother and parents to the Union City/West New York area. As a student at Emerson High School he was called to the medical profession by his favorite teacher.

“Mrs. Zippo made biology come to life,” he says, noting that he didn’t let his weak math skills stop him from pursuing his passion. “She was a really great biology teacher who inspired me to want to go into medicine.”

Thirty-five years later, while attending a surgical conference, he sat across the lunch table from another doctor whose nametag said “Dr. Zippo from Union City, Kentucky.”

“I thought it was such an odd coincidence that he had the same last name as my teacher from Emerson High

School in Union City. I told him, ‘the reason I’m sitting here in front of you is because of a teacher by the same name who taught at my high school in Union City, New Jersey.’ The man nodded knowingly and said, ‘That was my mother.’”

Dr. Cordero didn’t have an easy time in school: “Everything was tough for me coming from an inner city school. The educational system is not the same that the kids get in suburbia. So I had to make up ground in college.”

He began at Rutgers University for pre-med and went on to SUNY Buffalo Medical School. During that time, another teacher pointed him toward becoming a surgeon. 

“Dr. Lee at Buffalo was a great anatomist; I enjoyed his anatomy class so much that I decided I had to become a surgeon,” he recalls, adding that part of his fascination was the artistry of the human body. “Everything has a purpose, everything is placed so perfectly. It’s a perfect machine.”

At SUNY Buffalo, Dr. Coredro also met his future wife. He went on to do his residency at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

“Since the first few letters in our last names were similar, we were paired off in our histology lab and had to use the same microscope, so we became friends,” he recalls. “Finishing medical school together, we were matched as interns at Montefiore/Albert Einstein.”

They worked dogged hours, often more than 140 per week. Upon graduation, he established both solo and group practices in Union, while she went on to become an internist with a sub-specialty in adolescent medicine. Now with his main practice in Roselle Park, he is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, where he completed a fellowship under Dr. Bruce Brener, and Trinitas Regional Medical Center, which he joined during its inception.    

In 2005, he was invited by a fellow doctor on a medical mission trip to the Philippines. 

“I saw the need these people had for not only medical equipment, but surgical care,” he says. “There was an extreme lack of medical care and the urgent need for items that are routinely discarded by hospitals in the United States. We realized the usefulness of these items in the places we visited.”

By 2007, Dr. Cordero had co-founded Mano-A-Mano International Relief Organization. Mano-A-Mano routinely ships out containers of medical supplies donated by hospitals to Third World countries including Venezuela, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Ivory Coast, Grenada, and Guyana, in addition to the Philippines. Medical missions are designed to provide immunizations, health education, disease prevention, dental screenings and treatments, eye examinations, and free reading glasses. Most recently, Mano-A-Mano is opening a small charitable surgical center in Pierre Payen, Haiti. He plans to teach surgery in underdeveloped countries when he retires, and offer mobile cancer screenings for women where there is a high breast cancer mortality rate. 

“It makes me feel great to be able to go to other countries and treat people who would never be able to be treated because they have no money and no access to care,” says Dr. Cordero. “They are so appreciative and you can feel that appreciation for taking care of them.” 

The only compensation is the joy he gets from the look on their faces.

 

 

Pedro Cordero, MD, RVT, FACS Chair of the Periop 

Value Analysis Committee

908.241.2401