L – R: Jim Petillo, John Gribbin, J. Patrick McMorrow, Barbara McMorrow, Amy Quinlan, Dr. Jatinchandra Patel, Nancy Barone, Dan Jackson, Kai Jackson, Gene Mulroy

CentraState was awarded the Community Wellness Award at this year’s Monmouth-Ocean Development Council (MODC) Silver Gull awards dinner held on Thursday, May 1st, 2025, at the South Gate Manor in Freehold. CentraState Healthcare System worked with other New Jersey Hospitals and New Jersey state legislators for more than a decade to change legislation to allow community hospitals to perform life-saving cardiac services for their community members.

In 2021 Governor Phil Murphy signed into law legislation sponsored by state Senator Vin Gopal and state Senator Joseph Vitale allowing CentraState and other qualified facilities to apply for licensing approval to perform elective angioplasty, an elective procedure in which a small balloon is inserted to open a blocked artery and restore blood flow to the heart. This minimally invasive treatment opens blocked arteries and saves lives. It enables those with cardiac disease to receive a life-saving treatment close to home. In 2022, CentraState opened a new state-of-the-art cardiac suite and later received approval from the NJDOH to perform emergency angioplasty for patients experiencing a heart attack. Now patients who are in cardiac crisis immediately receive this life-saving treatment, in record time, without experiencing a risky transfer to another institution, when time is ticking.

Vin Gopal’s Civic Association also received a Silver Gull as a Changemaker and CentraState Healthcare System worked with him and his office to bring this elective angioplasty program to our area.

Dr. Jatinchandra Patel, Medical Director of the Robertshaw Cardiovascular Interventional Center and Amy Quinlan, Director of Cardiac Services at CentraState who both accepted the Silver Gull award on behalf of CentraState said, “We were very honored to be recognized for our work in providing local emergency care for patients having a cardiac crisis. Our team worked for over 10 years to bring this service to the community, and we have now been performing lifesaving procedures for our community for over 3 years”.