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Judith Persichilli (born March 4, 1949) is an American nurse and health care executive and the 22nd Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health for the State of New Jersey. Prior to her nomination she was interim president/CEO of University Hospital in Newark.

Early life and education

Perschilli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Her father worked in a leather goods factory and her mother was a legal secretary. Perschilli was one of four children. She has a twin sister, an older sister, and a younger brother. She grew up in Dunellen, New Jersey. The family was Catholic. Perschilli and her siblings attended Saint Peter’s High School, a Catholic high school in New Brunswick.

Persichilli received her nursing diploma from the St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing in 1968. She graduated from Rutgers University in 1976 with a bachelor of science in nursing, summa cum laude. She attained a master of arts in administration, summa cum laude, from Rider College in 1980.

Career

Health care

Perschilli began her career as an intensive care nurse.

Persichilli served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Catholic Health East. Judy also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer of CHE Trinity Health until November 18, 2013. She served as Executive Vice President and of Acute Care at Catholic Health East. Persichilli served as the President of St Francis Medical Center in Trenton for eight years. She served as Executive Vice President, Northeast Division of Catholic Health East.

Awards, positions, and titles

Persichilli is one of the founding members of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. She is Director Emeritus of Hopewell Valley Community Bank. She serves as Trustee of Rider University.

Persichilli was inducted into the New Jersey State Nurses Association Hall of Honor in 2006 in September, 2008, she received the Catholic Charities, Richard J. Hughes Humanitarian Award, Diocese of Trenton’s highest honor. She was named as one of the 50 most powerful people in New Jersey health care by NJBiz in March 2011. In May, 2011, she received the Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Award for Outstanding Medical Executive.

She received an honorary doctor of health degree from Georgian Court University in 2009. In 2011, she was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters from Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, Connecticut).

Murphy administration

Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy appointed Persichilli to direct the University Hospital in Newark in December 2018. In June 2019, he announced that she would join the cabinet of the Murphy administration as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health in July 2019.

Perschilli is seeking to expand gun violence treatment programs.

Persichilli is supervising the state's response to COVID-19 pandemic and reports the number of positive tests and deaths daily. When asked about her personal risk she said “I’m definitely going to get it. We all are. I’m just waiting.” In an anonymous letter to the leaders of the New Jersey Legislature, employees of the health department said mishandling of the crisis led to many preventable deaths and called for Persichilli's resignation.

Perschilli announced her resignation in July 2023.

Personal life

She married Anthony Persichilli. He was the mayor of Pennington for 12 years. He died in 2019 after 49 years of marriage.

References

1. "Governor Murphy Announces Intent to Nominate Dr. Kaitlan Baston as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health". NJ.gov. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
2. ^ "Bishop O'Connell to present papal honors during Sept. 8 prayer service - The Monitor". trentonmonitor.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
3. Livio, Susan K. (June 24, 2019). "Nurse who exposed problems at state's only public hospital will be N.J.'s next top health official, sources say". nj.com.
4. Arco, Matt (June 25, 2019). "Murphy makes it official on N.J. health commissioner. She'll be the first former nurse hold the post". nj.com.
5. "Gov Taps Respected Nurse and Hospital Exec to Lead Health Department - NJ Spotlight". www.njspotlight.com. 26 June 2019.
6. "Governor Appoints Monitor for Newark's Troubled University Hospital - NJ Spotlight". www.njspotlight.com. August 2018.
7. ^ Heyboer, Kelly (March 21, 2020). "'I'm definitely going to get it. We all are,' N.J.'s top health official says as she leads the state's coronavirus war". nj.com. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
8. Burling, Stacey. "Catholic Health East names a new leader".
9. "Murphy taps Judith Persichilli to be next health commissioner". June 25, 2019.
10. "University Hospital Board of Directors Appoints Judith M. Persichilli as Acting President & CEO" (PDF) (Press release). December 13, 2018.
11. "Office of the Governor | This Week in New Jersey: June 28, 2019". www.nj.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
12. Johnson, Brent (2019-08-05). "N.J. just did this to combat gun violence, days after string of mass shootings". nj.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
13. Livio, Susan K.; Sherman, Ted (June 1, 2020). "Scathing letter from health department insiders says N.J.'s pandemic failures led to 'preventable deaths'". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media.
14. Johnson, Brent (July 21, 2023). "N.J.'s public face of the COVID fight is retiring". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
15. Galioto, Mary. "Pennington Borough Honors Former Mayor and Swears-in Council Members", MercerMe, January 10, 2019. Accessed March 26, 2020. Persichilli set a 12-year record as the longest serving mayor in Pennington Borough history."
16. Mease, Alyssa (August 17, 2013). "Pennington mayor to be honored by Catholic Charities". nj.com.

• 1949 births
• People from New Brunswick, New Jersey
• People from Dunellen, New Jersey
• People from Pennington, New Jersey
• American women nurses
• Rider University alumni
• Rutgers University alumni
• State cabinet secretaries of New Jersey
• Living people
• State health commissioners of the United States
• 21st-century American women