Health Care Power 50 A-M.

Byline: Jessica Perry

Joseph Barone

Barone is a professor and dean of the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers. He served as chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration for 24 years, before taking on the role of acting dean in October 2011, and was appointed the ninth dean of the school in September 2013. Barone also serves on the state Health Planning Board and formerly chaired the executive committee of the New Jersey Medical Emergency Disaster Prevention and Response Expert Panel. In 1984, he founded the Rutgers Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program which has graduated more than 900 post-doctoral fellows.

Cathleen Bennett

Bennett took over as chief executive officer of the New Jersey Hospital Association in November 2017. The NJHA provides leadership on quality and patient safety, education and advocacy in both Washington, D.C. and in Trenton. Bennett also oversees the Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey, a not-for-profit affiliate that promotes continuing education, patient safety, quality improvement and research; and the for-profit Healthcare Business Solutions, which provides group purchasing and other business solutions for health care providers. Before joining the NJHA, Bennett served as New Jersey's 20th Health Commissioner, beginning Aug. 3, 2015. She knows the hospital business inside and out a strong resum at a critical time for the sector.

Jeff Brown

It's no secret that the state Health Department's medical marijuana program (MMP) has expanded rapidly over the past year. Under Jeff Brown's direction, it's in the process of doubling the number of dispensaries from six to 12, and by June 30, the program will have nearly tripled the number of patients in its care. There's nothing Brown's influence doesn't touch in the program from the number of alternative treatment centers to the selection method for the new ones. Brown has implemented every related regulatory change that Gov. Murphy called for in March 2018, to expand access, he issued licenses for six new ATCs. To make it more physician friendly, doctors no longer have to list on a public website, which likely accounts for some of 40-percent growth in MMP physicians in the last year. New products have been introduced, provisional caregiver status was introduced, and mobile access now allows MMP patients, caregivers and physicians to upload documents and make payments right from their phone. Soon, revised rules of the program will be finalized, as Brown and other program personnel review public comments.

Diane Calello

As the executive director and medical director of the New Jersey Poison Control Center at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Calello educates citizens about toxic substances that are found in many homes. "I like to focus my prevention [efforts] on the most common dangerous sources of poisonings," Calello said. "Prescription opioids are not written for a three-year-old. One opioid pill ingested by a two-year-old can kill a child. We talk about safe storage of opioids. We explain that our advice is not punitive. We will not send the police but we will send an ambulance. Acetaminophen is the most common form of poisonings. It is on my radar every day." The center is New Jersey's primary defense against injury and deaths from poisoning, with trained experts who answer telephones 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of poisoning for the general public and health care professionals across the state. "We handle about 50,000 cases per year," Calello noted. "The call is free, we are always here. It is literally a very easy process. There is not a phone tree. You will get a person on the phone. We provide reassurance and will call back to make sure you are feeling okay. This is the only place in health care where you can call and get health care advice without a copayment."

Marlene Caride

As the top state official overseeing the agency to which any health insurance company doing business in the state has to answer, Caride wields a lot of clout. She was a veteran lawmaker representing urban areas of southern Bergen County, and during her tenure in the state legislature, she sat on the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee. Any health carrier hoping to get a license to do business in New Jersey, offer new insurance products or change the rates policy holders have to pay needs to get a proposal past the Department of Banking and Insurance. With...