Story

Our purpose is caring for people, and while our mission is always top of mind, sometimes – despite our best efforts – patients leave our care with an experience below expectations. So, when Kiamesha Washington came to Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center for emergency care, we took the opportunity to work with her after a challenging experience…

Florey Cruz-Cerpa is a healthcare professional at Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center. Like her colleagues, she took to Facebook this spring to share stories of uncertainty, exhaustion and solidarity with her peers. She hoped her stories would serve as a sign of unity and perseverance. One evening, Florey posted a selfie, which was seen by Anjali…

With only essential staff being able to come into the hospital, Sydney Topf, a junior volunteer at Mountainside Medical Center, wasn’t able to work in the Transitional Care Unit. With time on her hands and looking for a way to give back, Sydney learned about the organization Hearts of Hope. “I am very passionate about…

On March 28, 2020, Anthony Idone, Jr. of Belleville, New Jersey started to feel very tired, weak, and was coughing incessantly. His wife said to call the doctor, who prescribed him a medication. Two days later, Anthony still felt terrible. They decided to go to an urgent care in Cedar Grove, N.J., where the doctor…

Pain, tightness in the chest and numbness down one arm – these are the symptoms that come to mind when we hear “heart attack.” So when Chris Armstrong felt overwhelming nausea and dizziness, leaving him too weak to even leave the shower, he didn’t think the cause was a blocked artery in his heart. However,…

Every year there are around 6,000 kidney transplants performed in the United States. As wonderful as that number is, there are still 93,000 people waiting on a kidney, either from a deceased individual or a living donor. Jean Sime of Wayne, New Jersey was one of those thousands waiting on a new kidney. Jean had…

As a young adult, Olivia Davis was in great physical shape and had always lived a very health conscious lifestyle. After giving birth to her daughter in the 1990s, she found it hard to maintain that lifestyle. “I went through a series of bad events in my 40s which contributed to my weight gain,” said…

Annie Mueller has been a nurse at Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center since 1992. In recent years, she started experiencing intense hip pain. “Being a nurse, I was afraid to have the issue addressed because I knew what I was likely going to have to undergo a hip replacement,” said Mueller. After a vacation with…

The morning of Christmas Eve 2018, Barbara Donahue was getting ready for her family’s annual dinner. “Around 10 a.m., I told someone sitting nearby that I was starting to get a headache and my eye was hurting, which I thought was very strange,” said Donahue. “My oldest son turned to look at me and said…

On June 5, 2014, Sergeant Fred Arnold’s day started out just like any other day. “That morning, my police department was participating in our bi-annual weapons qualifications training at the Essex County Police Academy’s Shooting Range,” said Arnold. “After we finished up I made a quick stop before making my way back to police headquarters.…