Montclair Administrator Adds Executive Duties in her Expanded Strategic Role with Award-Winning Care Provider
RIDGEWOOD, NJ (January 17, 2017) – Van Dyk Health Care has promoted Jacqueline Cousins to Vice President of Data Strategy & Population Health, expanding her role as the company continues to analyze data points within population segments and explores new ways to manage health outcomes across its continuum of care. She will remain as Administrator of Van Dyk Health Care at Montclair, entering her fourth year.
“It’s a well-deserved role for Jackie, and it’s an important area for our company as we adapt to the regulatory challenges ahead” said Robert Van Dyk, CEO of Van Dyk Health Care and former chairman of the American Health Care Association. “The spotlight is on post-acute care providers to be the superheroes of this industry.
We’re expected to handle a higher volume of patients with a shorter length of stay and a lower rate of re-hospitalization. Fortunately, we have our own superhero in Jackie Cousins, who understands population health and value-based payment models better than most.”
Among her new responsibilities, Cousins will analyze data trends and promote clinical outcomes that reduce 30-day readmission rates, average length of stay, infection rates and other factors. She will work closely with hospital partners to promote the company’s cost, quality and market data.
“Population health is the new norm,” Van Dyk said. “With the emergence of Accountable Care Organizations and value-based purchasing models, care providers need to work together to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations. It’s a shared responsibility. And with Jackie’s leadership, we will continue to make a lasting impact throughout our community.”
Cousins has a proven record of using nursing leaders to enhance Van Dyk Health Care’s partnerships with physicians and hospitals. She made a breakthrough hire when adding a nurse practitioner to serve as liaison between physicians and nurses, provide staff education and pursue consistent care pathways.
Cousins and her Montclair staff have qualified for the last three years for the American Health Care Association’s “Quality Initiative” in Staff Stability, awarded to care providers who cultivate highly satisfied, well-trained and committed staff. Under Cousins’ tutelage, the Montclair staff received the Excellence in Action award by the National Research Corporation in 2015. This honor recognizes leaders in long term care that rank within the top 10 percent in patient satisfaction and employee satisfaction. Cousins personally received the Facility Leadership Award from the American College of Healthcare Administrators in 2011.
Van Dyk Health Care has implemented several innovative specialty programs to provide personalized care, improve overall health outcomes and teach patients how to sustain wellness and quality of life within their own homes. HeartWays is a unique cardiac clinical pathway program, directed by a certified cardiologist and administered by an advanced nurse practitioner, for patients with Congestive Heart Failure. Cousins led the company’s launch of JustBreathe, a clinical program that is managed by board-certified pulmonologist Dr. Lopa Patel, nurses and a respiratory therapist to treat patients with respiratory diagnoses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
About Van Dyk Health Care
Van Dyk Health Care, founded in 1953, has built an unsurpassed reputation for excellence in senior care, spanning three generations of family caring for family. Under the leadership of CEO Robert Van Dyk for over 20 years and an award-winning staff, Van Dyk Health Care remains one of the top care providers in the nation, dedicated to its mission of finding solutions to better health and quality of life throughout New Jersey. Van Dyk Health Care offers the full continuum of care services with two nursing and post-acute care facilities in Ridgewood and Montclair, an assisted living community in Hawthorne, a home care company and a soon-to-open memory day care center. The company works closely with partnering hospitals and physicians to ensure its short-stay patients return home quickly and safely. Learn more at vandykhealthcare.com.
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