Deborah Heart and Lung Center employees donated 2-1/2 tons (approximately 4900 pounds) of food in the hospital’s First Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. The food was donated to the Christian Caring Center, a local non-profit which hosts programs targeting food insecurity, emergency housing, and recovery, sobriety, and job training.

According to Deborah President and CEO Joseph Chirichella, the food drive benefited both organizations equally. “We took the opportunity to make this a fun employee activity by sponsoring a contest to see which department could really ‘pull its weight’ and donate the most pounds of food per employee. Our employees got into the spirit of this friendly competition, making it a fun lead-in to our holiday season. On the serious side, however, I heard from more than one staff member who was so happy that we were hosting this large food drive. We are all very well aware of the tight and precarious financial situation that many of our neighbors are in right now. Deborah is invested in the health and well-being of its community and it was vitally important to us that we lend a hand this year.”

“I am very proud of our team who demonstrated once again what kind and compassionate human beings they are, both in daily patient care, and in touching the lives of those less fortunate than themselves.”

Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, NJ is an 89-bed teaching hospital that specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, research, and treatment of heart, lung, and vascular diseases. Founded in 1922, Deborah has been a regional and nationally recognized leader throughout its 100-year history, during which time it has healed 2.3 million patients from every corner of the United States and 87 countries in the world. From performing the first open heart surgeries (adult and pediatric) in New Jersey, to running one of the highest volume left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) implant programs in the region, Deborah has stood at the forefront of medical innovation, all while never wavering from its founding mission “there is no price on life.” Deborah is consistently recognized as a leader in patient care from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ranked among the top hospitals in New Jersey for patient satisfaction; holds a top-tier Society of Thoracic Surgeons rating which places Deborah among the best cardiac surgery programs in the country; and is designated a national Top Teaching Hospital by The Leapfrog Group. Deborah is an Alliance member of the Cleveland Clinic Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute.