HFNJ Crosses the $200M Threshold in Awards

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey (HFNJ) recently crossed the threshold of awarding grants totaling more than $200 million since its founding 30 years ago. Since inception, HFNJ has provided 2,790 grant awards to nearly 500 different nonprofit organizations to support healthcare programs.

Created in 1996 from the sale of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center to the Saint Barnabas Health System (now called RWJ Barnabas Health), HFNJ has been proudly supporting projects to promote access to quality healthcare in the communities we serve. As envisioned by Lester Z. Lieberman, then the Board Chair of Newark Beth Israel, HFNJ was created to serve as a permanent funding vehicle dedicated to promoting the health of the public. Two populations are served under the Foundation’s mandate – the urban communities of Newark and the surrounding towns that formed the catchment area of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, and the Jewish community of Greater Metrowest New Jersey whose ancestors founded the hospital in 1901.

“Few foundations have demonstrated the longevity and impact of The Healthcare Foundation of NJ,” said Michael Schmidt, Executive Director and CEO of HFNJ. “We are proud to carry on the three-decade legacy of the Foundation in improving access to quality healthcare for all people in our area.”

Over the years, the Foundation grew under the leadership of successive board chairs Lester Lieberman, Beth Levithan, and Amy Schechner. To drive change where it was needed, HFNJ pivoted throughout its history to address the critical healthcare needs of the community at the time. These included piloting school-based health clinics in Newark, expanding access to ACA enrollment, strengthening local support for veterans’ health, integrating pediatric primary care and behavioral health, providing emergency funding to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and strengthening behavioral health support for Jewish adolescents.

“Thanks to the foresight and vision of our founders, the Foundation was formed from a $125 million endowment created from the hospital’s sale as a strategy to benefit the communities for the long-term,” said Amy Schechner, Board Chair. “Over our 30 years lifespan, we have provided over $200 million in healthcare grants to support the communities we serve – while also growing the endowment to approximately $230 million by early 2026 to continue to provide healthcare-related support – for decades to come.”

The Foundation continues to innovate and serve its community partners to help them address the increasingly complex healthcare needs of today. This year, in response to federal and state budget cuts, the Foundation launched an initiative providing $1.5 million in critical core operating support to select community partner organizations.

While much has changed in healthcare since 1996, the values and mission of HFNJ have remained largely the same. A constant hallmark of the Foundation has been its commitment to the ideals of humanism in medicine, which stemmed from the beliefs and experiences of its founder Lester Lieberman. HFNJ has always championed the vision that healthcare should encompass the principles of compassion, empathy, respect, and cultural sensitivity, and these values have been infused in each of the 200 million dollars that it has distributed to date.