Browns Mills, N.J. — The New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) will honor Joseph Chirichella, president and CEO, Deborah Heart and Lung Center at its 2024 Best at the Beach event to be held Thursday, July 11 at Ocean Place Resort and Spa in Long Branch, New Jersey.

Chirichella will receive the Emeritus Prize from the NJHA. According to the NJHA, it gives the prize to honor and recognize retiring leaders who have left a legacy of unselfish commitment to NJHA and to the state’s healthcare community.   

Joseph Chirichella, President and CEO of Deborah Heart and Lung Center, will retire this year.  During his tenure, Chirichella spearheaded Deborah’s growth by focusing on the development of the campus through partnership in the construction of a Medical Office Building, and leading a $108 million expansion of the hospital building to create state-of-the-art critical care patient rooms and a dedicated team member respite space.

Chirichella has also used the power of partnerships to ensure Deborah’s patients have access to the highest quality of care. Key to this vision is Deborah’s alliance with Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute, through which Deborah is able to network around best processes and benchmark its outcomes against Cleveland Clinic’s heart program and its other alliance hospitals.

Chirichella supported Deborah’s partnership with Cooper University Health Care and development of the HeroCare Connect™ program, a first-in-the-nation program that offers healthcare navigation services to active-duty military personnel, their families and veterans. Through a partnership with Capital Health to provide emergency department services on Deborah’s campus, Chirichella has ensured that this important, and formerly unmet, community need remains filled.

Most recently, Chirichella partnered with Deborah Specialty Physicians, a private physician practice, to expand access to heart, lung and vascular care in the community. With Deborah’s clinical support, offices have opened throughout Atlantic, Burlington, Mercer and Ocean Counties, allowing patients access to specialty care close to their homes.

About Deborah Heart and Lung Center

Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, New Jersey, is a teaching hospital in the prevention, diagnosis, research and treatment of heart, lung and vascular diseases. Founded in 1922, Deborah has treated more than 2.3 million hearts from every corner of the United States and 87 countries. From performing the first adult and pediatric open-heart surgeries in NJ, to one of the highest-volume left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) implant programs in the nation, Deborah is consistently recognized as a leader overall and in patient care from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It is ranked among the top hospitals in New Jersey for patient satisfaction; holds a top-tier Society of Thoracic Surgeons rating which places Deborah among the best cardiac surgery programs in North America; and is rated High Performing in five specialties, Heart Attack, Heart Bypass Surgery, Heart Failure, COPD and TAVR by U.S. News & World Report. Deborah is an Alliance member of the Cleveland Clinic Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute.