Up Close and Personal With Alan Lieber, President of Overlook Hospital

Overlook Hospital is an important part of the lives of the people in this region. What new developments should individuals and families in your served communities know about the hospital, and what can they expect in 2010 and beyond?

At Overlook Hospital, we continue to invest in the people, technology, and resources that keep us on the cutting edge of healthcare. Since opening our doors in 1906, Overlook has been the premiere facility for innovative, quality medical care in this area. In 2008 and 2009, we have once again made exceptional advancements, continuing to pave the way for modern medicine. I am proud to say that we are not only the leading hospital in this region, but the leading provider of all healthcare services.

This includes access to our world-class regional medical center in Summit, and our satellite Emergency Department in Union—24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We now have a stroke network, expanded to include 20 hospitals spanning 14 counties in New Jersey, all referring to Overlook’s Neuroscience Center. We recently celebrated the opening of the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center, which offers advanced treatment for all types of cancer.

The hospital’s preventative and emergency care is led by more than 1,400 physicians who dominate New Jersey Monthly’s “Top Doctors” list—and they work in tandem with an award-winning nursing staff. We communicate with our patients on a regular basis and conduct research to understand their changing needs, and maintain our commitment to bringing the appropriate resources to them. We continue to offer the community health-related events, activities, and lectures. These include Blood Pressure, Bone Density, Women’s Heart, and Diabetes screenings in many local towns; and of course, access to health and wellness news through our award-winning health and lifestyle magazine, Overlook View. In 2010, Overlook Hospital will continue to develop our programs and services to ensure we are always meeting the needs of the individuals and families of our community.

What do you communicate to the physicians and staff at Overlook Hospital, and how do you stay on the leading edge of healthcare?

Today, being on the leading edge of healthcare as a hospital is about more than just providing emergency care—it’s about being consistently proactive and helping people live longer, healthier lives. The physicians and staff here at Overlook Hospital are inspired every day, knowing that we are leveraging their skills and experience and putting the best tools in their hands to serve our patient population. As president of Overlook Hospital, I am proud of the standard of care we deliver. Like you, our caregivers are concerned parents, savvy consumers, and people who want to optimize their health and enjoy life. Those values—the same factors that bind all of us together—are what help to drive the decisions Overlook staff members make every day in achieving clinical excellence, ensuring unsurpassed patient safety, offering a full range of differentiated services, and creating a healing environment. Even those people who never require any of our services should feel confident and reassured, knowing that some of the best care in the region is available to them.

We are able to recruit and retain the area’s top doctors in part because the facilities and technology we provide them are second to none. This includes investing in leading-edge tools like the CyberKnife, a machine that delivers noninvasive, highly accurate, and painless treatment of cancer in various parts of the body; and participating in programs like the Cardiovascular Patient Outcomes Research Team (or C-PORT), an ongoing study spearheaded by Johns Hopkins Medicine and carried out by a consortium of nine hospitals in New Jersey, including Overlook. We truly equip our physicians and staff with the latest and greatest in technologies and programming.

What has being the leader of Overlook Hospital meant to you?

I have spent most of my life striving to be the best I can be. I came to Overlook Hospital five years ago to join an organization that believes in being the best, and believes in supporting its people. Our parent company, Atlantic Health System, is behind our team’s vision, and makes the appropriate investments in infrastructure for us—this, in turn, enables us to serve our community well. I am extremely proud of our accomplishments and what we have to offer our community now and well into the future.