2026 Best of Health Care
Shining a spotlight on those helping move medicine forward
Thanks to cutting-edge technology, key research, breakthrough treatments and award-winning programs, the health care industry is continuing to evolve in South Jersey. Our annual Best of Health Care list takes a look at some of these expanded capabilities in the region and how they are directly benefitting patients across the region.
Lindenberg Cancer & Hematology Center
Providing Patient-Focused Care
Eight years ago, Lindenberg Cancer & Hematology Center opened its doors in Marlton with a mission to bring personalized cancer care closer to home. Since then, the practice has remained dedicated to combining clinical excellence with an environment grounded in comfort, dignity and hope.
The center is led by Dr. Noah Lindenberg, recognized as a top physician in hematology and oncology for his commitment to precision-driven, patient-centered care. He is joined by Nurse Practitioner Agata Kraszewska, NP-C, whose extensive oncology experience and compassionate presence enhance each patient’s journey. The team also includes the new addition of Nurse Practitioner Scarlin Rhoades, NP, who brings valuable oncology expertise and a heartfelt commitment to individualized, patient-focused care.
From medically advanced therapies to the high level care every patient receives, the practice embraces emerging technologies to ensure individuals benefit from innovative treatment approaches. Every element of the practice, from innovation to atmosphere, reflects a heartfelt commitment to caring for patients and their families—delivering advanced cancer care with precision, compassion and a shared mission of protecting cancer patients as a team.
AmeriHealth
Crucial Care for Seniors
Sam Abuella, director of Medicare at AmeriHealth, has played a key role in leading the organization’s gap-closure events designed to better serve the Medicare audience, particularly older adults facing barriers to preventive care. Recognizing that many seniors struggle with access to screenings, care navigation and health education, Abuella helped shape a community-based approach that meets members where they are.
Under his leadership, these gap-closure events—often referred to as senior health expos—were developed to bring essential services together in one accessible setting. Through partnerships with trusted local health systems and community organizations, the events connect Medicare members with preventive screenings, benefit education and care resources they may have otherwise missed. This approach supports improved engagement, quality outcomes and greater awareness of available benefits.
By leveraging culturally competent outreach and community partnerships, these efforts reinforce AmeriHealth’s commitment to health equity while supporting quality improvement and meaningful engagement with its Medicare members.
Virtua Health
Advancing Gastrointestinal Care in South Jersey
Virtua GI and Digestive Health is redefining gastrointestinal (GI) care in South Jersey through advanced technology, specialized expertise and a patient-centered approach. More than 70 digestive health specialists deliver compassionate, comprehensive care for common and complex conditions using minimally invasive techniques and leading expertise in robotic-assisted colorectal surgery.
A cornerstone of Virtua’s innovation, the Crohn’s & Colitis Center unites fellowship-trained IBD gastroenterologists, colorectal surgeons, dietitians and nurse navigators in an integrated model that streamlines care, supports long-term remission, and addresses the full medical, nutritional and emotional needs of people living with IBD.
Virtua is also the first health system in New Jersey and Greater Philadelphia to offer intestinal ultrasound—a fast, non-invasive tool that allows real-time assessment of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis during an office visit, reducing reliance on colonoscopies, CT scans and MRIs.
Further strengthening cancer prevention efforts, GI Genius™ AI technology acts as a second set of eyes during colonoscopies, helping identify hard-to-spot precancerous polyps in real time, improving screening thoroughness and increasing the likelihood of detecting colorectal cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages.
Samaritan
Advanced Cardiac Care
By combining cardiac-specific expertise with person-centered care, Samaritan is redefining how advanced heart disease is managed.
The Advanced Cardiac Care Program, a cornerstone of Samaritan Care Pathways, addresses the complex needs of patients with heart disease, heart failure and cardiomyopathy. These patients often face frequent hospitalizations, a high symptom burden and a complicated web of specialists, therapies and care transitions.
“Samaritan Care Pathways is unique in helping patients and their loved ones navigate serious illness as early as the time of diagnosis,” says Sara Pagliaro, DO, chief medical officer at Samaritan. “When a patient enters the program, we look closely at how their disease has impacted them and what services we can provide to help improve their quality of life.”
Interdisciplinary teams collaborate across inpatient, outpatient, palliative and hospice settings to support not only medical needs, but emotional, social and practical concerns as well.
This focused, coordinated approach has earned national recognition. Samaritan became the first New Jersey–based hospice to be awarded Palliative/ Hospice Heart Failure certification from the American Heart Association, a distinction granted at the end of 2025.
Jefferson Health NJ
Targeting Cancer with AI
The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital has become the first oncology center in Southern New Jersey to implement a new treatment platform that harnesses adaptive therapy and artificial intelligence (AI) to target tumors with a precision that enhances effectiveness and reduces treatment-induced side effects.
The Ethos system is the cutting-edge next step in linear accelerators, machines that deliver radiation beams to targeted areas of the body to destroy cancer cells. The Ethos linear accelerator allows Jefferson’s radiation oncology team to adjust the patient’s radiation dose based on real-time changes in the patient’s anatomy and tumor position, ensuring the most accurate and effective radiation treatments. While such pinpoint accuracy is beneficial to many cancer patients (doses adjusted to exact tumor sizes can reduce side effects and the length of treatment), Ethos’ new technology can more accurately target tumors that can move before or during treatment (such as tumors on the prostate, liver, pancreas and lungs) by minimizing radiation doses to surrounding healthy tissue.
Acenda Integrated Health
Caring for the Community
For over 50 years, Acenda Integrated Health has been a trusted nonprofit agency in behavioral health, strengthening mental wellness across South Jersey. The organization supports individuals, children and families at every stage of life, meeting people where they are and working alongside them on their journey toward stability, healing and hope.
Acenda’s compassionate team is committed to being with our communities every step of the way. Through more than 100 programs, its clinicians deliver care that is accessible, coordinated and rooted in dignity. Acenda provides a wide range of services including therapy and counseling, maternal and child health supports, residential and recovery programs, mental health urgent care centers, crisis services, and community-based prevention and outreach.
What truly sets Acenda apart is its integrated care approach. Programs work together to ensure that clients receive coordinated support across service areas, rather than redirecting them to disconnected systems. By integrating behavioral health, prevention, recovery and community-based services, Acenda responds to complex needs with continuity, trust and compassion.
Inspira Health
Cognitive Infusion Therapy
In collaboration with Cooper University Health Care, Inspira Health is enhancing access to advanced neuroscience services within the communities it serves. Inspira has partnered with Cooper to implement a cognitive infusion therapy program at its Mullica Hill and Vineland medical centers. This infusion therapy is aimed at decelerating the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Clinical studies have shown that in people with early-stage Alzheimer’s or mild cognitive impairment, these infusions can slow the rate of memory and thinking decline.
“Bringing new treatments, such as cognitive infusion therapy, supports our goal of meeting the needs of our community, close to home,” says Warren E. Moore, president and chief operating officer of Inspira Health.
AtlantiCare
Humanizing Cancer Care
When patients face a cancer diagnosis, Dr. James C. Wurzer believes they shouldn’t have to leave their community to receive exceptional care. That conviction has guided his work at the AtlantiCare Cancer Care Institute for more than two decades.
As Medical Director of Oncology and Radiation Oncology, Dr. Wurzer has helped shape a comprehensive cancer program designed to deliver academic-level care close to home. He works alongside Dr. Kay Yoon-Flannery, chief of women’s oncology and breast surgery and Dr. Neha Chawla, medical director of medical oncology and hematology, leading a multidisciplinary team united by a shared belief that while cancer treatment is clinical, cancer care is human.
Coriell Institute
Awarded Prestigious NIH Contract
The National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) has selected the Coriell Institute for Medical Research to manage its biospecimen and data collection, the “NIMH Repository and Genomics Resource (NRGR),” the largest centralized national biorepository for psychiatric research.
The goal of the NRGR is to accelerate scientific understanding of the genetic and cellular bases of mental disorders and support translational neuroscience that will lead to new diagnostic tools, treatments and preventive strategies for mental illnesses.
Coriell will be responsible for a wide range of critical tasks, including managing the addition of approximately 16,000 new biological samples and data to the resource and distribution of over 12,000 samples to the research community each year.
Cooper University Health Care
Celebrating Two Milestones
As Cooper University Health Care approaches 140 years of service to South Jersey, two milestone anniversaries highlight its deep commitment to delivering lifesaving care when and where it matters most: 10 years of Cooper EMS serving the City of Camden and 15 years of Cooper Air Medical Services supporting communities across the region.
Since launching in Camden in 2016, Cooper EMS has transformed emergency response through a fully integrated, hospital-based model that brings advanced clinical care directly into neighborhoods. Complementing ground response, Cooper Air Medical Services provides rapid critical-care transport linking patients throughout South Jersey to Cooper’s Level I Trauma Center and specialty services.
Deborah Heart and Lung Center
Leading Cardiac Care
Over the course of the last year, Deborah Heart and Lung Center saw several milestones take place including achieving the lowest open heart surgery mortality risk in the state as recognized by the New Jersey Department of Health. The hospital also opened The Olsen Family Patient Care Pavilion, which features 36 private inpatient suites, making all inpatient rooms private.
What’s more, Deborah successfully completed its first transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) procedure using the Edwards EVOQUE Tricuspid Valve Replacement System as well as implanted its first Optimizer Integra-D Cardiac Contractility Modulation – Defibrillator (CCM-D) device.
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Published (and copyrighted) in South Jersey Biz, Volume 16, Issue 3 (March 2026).
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