Hackensack Meridian Health Launches Radio Station on Pandora, the First of its Kind in New York Market

EDISON, N.J., Sept. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hackensack Meridian Health is proud to announce the launch of Life Years AheadRadio, a station specially curated by Pandora which features pop, rock and country hits by recording artists including Kelly Clarkson, Ed Sheeran, as well as emerging artists such as Nicole Atkins and Maren Morris.

This station, the first health care brand station in the New York market, signals Hackensack Meridian Health's commitment to delivering the best patient experience possible as well as connecting to our larger community on a daily basis.

"We are so excited to be releasing our new station with our partner Pandora,'' said Robert C. Garrett, co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. "It's a great fit. Pandora is a company based on innovation and personalizing the music experience, similar to how we approach our mission with the same sense of discovery and commitment to exceptional, personalized care and enhancing the quality of life in our communities.''

Network executives will officially launch the station Wednesday, September 20, with the first-ever Pandora hospital radio launch, taking place at Hackensack University Medical Center, New Jersey's No. 1 hospital as ranked by U.S. News & World Report for six consecutive years. The event features a performance by emerging artist Nicole Atkins, whose work is inspired by Dusty Springfield, Candi Staton and Janis Joplin.

"I am honored to be part of this unique partnership between Hackensack Meridian Health and Pandora,'' said Atkins, who released her latest album Goodnight Rhonda Lee in July. "Music helps people so much. It's good for the soul. Music and well-being – that includes mind, body and soul – are essential partners along the path to healing.''

Increasingly, experts are documenting the impact of music on the healing process – how it can calm patients, ease pain, and provide a pleasant diversion during treatment or a hospital stay. A growing body of research proves music can improve outcomes in many ways: it can reduce the amount of sedatives needed for procedures; quell nausea and ease anxiety in patients receiving chemotherapy, and improve sleeping and eating habits of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The new station targets listeners well beyond our hospitals. We know that music has a transformative power whether it enhances chores or a long drive, life's milestones or even workouts. Think of Michael Phelps, the nation's most decorated Olympian, listening to pounding rap before a race, an essential element of his winning formula.

"One of our goals is to connect with people where they are and to be part of their daily life, even when they are not thinking about health,'' said John K. Lloyd, co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. "Our Life Years Ahead Radio lets our brand personality shine through in maybe an unexpected way.''

Pandora is powered by its exclusive Music Genome Project. Their team of trained musicologists study and collect musical details on every track – melody, harmony, rhythm, form, composition and lyrics – 450 musical attributes in all. The result is the best, most personalized listening experience available – a combination of favorites and a connection to new music a listener may not have discovered alone.

The playlist uniquely created for Life Years Ahead Radio was selected from the top genres from across New Jersey and the New York City market. Eighty songs – light rock, pop and country – will play and include listener favorites. The playlist will also allow listeners to discover new music from emerging artists.

"Music has this transformative ability to connect to meaningful moments,'' said Chrisie Scott, chief marketing officer at Hackensack Meridian Health. "As a health and life brand, and knowing the rich research that went into defining our brand, we are thrilled to offer this new radio station to our community, mindful of the power of music and its impact in our daily lives.''

Medicine, likewise, is becoming increasingly personalized. At Hackensack Meridian Health, we take an innovative approach which tailors disease prevention and treatment to a person's genes, environment and lifestyle whenever possible. For instance, cancer patients undergo molecular testing to help oncologists select treatments to improve survival rates and reduce exposure to adverse effects. The goal is to target the right treatments to the right patient and the right time.

"Life Years Ahead Radio allows us to continue our role as innovator – and that includes making discoveries well beyond medicine,'' Garrett said. "It's really about enhancing the mind, body and soul.''

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH
Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 13 hospitals, including two academic medical centers, two children's hospitals and nine community hospitals, physician practices, more than 120 ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, and urgent care and after-hours centers. Hackensack Meridian Health has 28,000 team members, more than 6,000 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The Network's notable distinctions include having one of only five major academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades America's 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more consecutive years, four hospitals ranked in the top 10 in New Jersey as ranked by U.S. News and World Report, including Hackensack University Medical Center ranked No. 1 for the last six years. Seven network hospitals have achieved Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and the network is a recipient of the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality from The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum. The network is also a six-time recipient of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For," one of the "20 Best Workplaces in Health Care" in the nation, and the number one "Best Place to Work for Women." Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

The hospitals of Hackensack Meridian Health include: academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune; children's hospitals – Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; community hospitals – Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, and Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood.

For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hackensack-meridian-health-launches-radio-station-on-pandora-the-first-of-its-kind-in-new-york-market-300523113.html

SOURCE Hackensack Meridian Health