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Three Virtua hospitals are recognized as High-Performing in U.S. News & World Report's 2026 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care. December 09, 2025 - All three of Virtua's hospitals that provide maternity services earned the High Performing designation based on key measures of maternity care quality U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice, has named Virtua Voorhees, Virtua Its Lady of Lourdes, and Virtua Mount Holly Hospitals as High-Performing hospitals for Maternity Care in its 2026 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care report. This designation, the highest award a hospital can earn in this category, marks the fifth annual edition of the study. Since 2021, U.S. News has evaluated hospitals nationwide that provide labor and delivery services, analyzing detailed data submitted by each institution. For the 2026 rankings, approximately 900 hospitals participated. The ratings are designed to help expectant parents, in consultation with their prenatal care providers, make informed decisions about where to receive maternity services that best meet their family's needs. All three of Virtua's hospitals that provide maternity services earned the High Performing designation based on key measures of maternity care quality, including: * C-section rates among lower-risk pregnancies * Severe, unexpected newborn complication rates * Exclusive breast milk feeding rates * Adoption of birthing-friendly practices "Being named a High Performing hospital for Maternity Care by U.S. News & World Report affirms Virtua Health's unwavering commitment to mothers, babies, and families across South Jersey," said Nicole Lamborne, MD, Vice President of Clinical Operations, Virtua Women's & Children's Services. "This recognition reflects the dedication of our physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, and care teams who provide safe, compassionate, and evidence-based care every day. We are honored to be trusted by expectant parents during one of life's most meaningful moments, and we remain focused on advancing maternity services that support healthy beginnings and lasting wellness." There's so much more to explore. Discover expert insights, inspiring stories, health tips, and more by exploring the content below! Feeling fortunate to be alive after being hospitalized for three months with COVID-19, Jill Scannell turned to Virtua's Dr. Dominic Valentino III to continue her long-term pulmonary care. She's now on the road to a brighter future. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) relieved Tracy Grant's menopause symptoms, restoring her vitality and changing her life for the better. Joe Gilbert runs his Burlington Township store with a schmear of goodness. He didn't let a heart attack and coronary artery bypass surgery stop him from donating Brooklyn-style bagels to local organizations and food banks. With courage and the support of her Virtua Health team, Allegra is managing her Crohn's disease and living life on her own terms. Juan Namnun discovered a lump in his chest by chance. Now he's raising awareness of a disease most men never think about - male breast cancer. The wear and tear on Teresa's knees after 40 years of nursing made just walking painful. Knee replacement surgery performed with robotic-assisted technology has her back on the move. Kyersten Corda was just 31 when she felt a lump in her breast. Comprehensive treatment with the Penn Medicine | Virtua Health Cancer Program, including proton therapy, has allowed Kyersten to reclaim her active life. Done with severe pain, Tara R. of Philadelphia crossed the bridge into NJ for a new fibroid treatment. Soon after, she crossed the finish line in a half-marathon. Mindset and lifestyle changes, coupled with bariatric surgery, have helped Andrew meet his weight-loss goals. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) helped relieve Ashley's bipolar depression so she can enjoy life again. Cancer treatment created scarring that damaged Stanley Ollek's heart and blood vessels. The Virtua cardiac team never gave up on restoring his health.

Ways an expanding Virtua Health is growing both health care in South Jersey and its workforce. When Virtua Health took over Its Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden six years ago, one "true gem" that was not immediately obvious is today shaping the future of Virtua's workforce. Virtua has been able to build an expansive training program around the Lourdes nursing school and has produced hundreds of new nurses each year in an industry suffering from a shortage. "It was a true gem. It was like a diamond that we didn't even know and maybe even Lourdes didn't know," said Dr. John Matsinger, Virtua executive vice president and chief operating officer. The Lourdes Nursing School has been moved to the Rowan University Stratford campus and students are "all doing rotations with us during their training, and we've been able to offer many of those nurses opportunities to join Virtua upon graduation, and they have," Matsinger said during a wide-ranging interview about Virtua and its philosophy, strategy and technological advances. Virtua is aggressively expanding its existing properties, exploring joining with Wilmington-based ChristianaCare into a new regional health system and testing new ways to provide health care. That includes this summer's opening of the Oliver Station senior citizen apartment building in Camden that sits atop a 5,200-square-foot Virtua primary care office with 10 examination rooms staffed by Virtua physicians. "Our mission is that Virtua helps you be well, get well, stay well. That's what we do every day. That's our North Star," Matsinger said. In May, Virtua celebrated both the 75th anniversary of the Lourdes hospital and a $500 million addition of a six-story patient tower at the Haddon Avenue hospital. The tower will be named the Marvin Samson Pavilion for the longtime Virtua board member who pledged $5 million to Virtua. But Matsinger pointed out that the new pavilion represents only a small part of the changes that have been ongoing at the hospital, founded in 1950 by the Catholic Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, New York. "We're redoing the entire Lourdes campus," Matsinger said. "The expansion is a new bed tower, but every part of that campus is being redone as we speak." Matsinger noted: "We realized that we needed to transform the organization, especially with Lourdes joining the organization, to really move into being a tertiary academic medical center at Lourdes, but also an academic health care system at Virtua." The space formerly occupied by the nursing school was replaced in July by the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit (Neuro ICU), with 18 patient beds focusing on patients who have suffered strokes or who have brain tumors or seizure disorders. "If you have a stroke, you could end up in that unit. If you have brain surgery, you could end up in that unit. If you have advanced spine surgery, you could actually end up in that unit because that's all part of the neurovascular team," he explained. In the last six years, Virtua has invested a couple of hundred million dollars in the Lourdes infrastructure, including its information technology for electronic medical records and the HVAC system, among other large-scale projects. As in Camden, Virtua is adding to its hospital in Mount Holly, Burlington County. The new four-story, 137,000-square-foot tower will house 64 private beds and 10 operating rooms. While it may seem that the Samson donation would go to help pay for the pavilion named after him, that will not be happening. Samson's "dollars will not go to build any of that building. Not one cent will go into that building," Matsinger said. Instead, one of Samson's passions is education and Virtua is now figuring out what type of education his contribution will support. "We philosophically don't think that our philanthropic dollars should go to brick and mortar. We will figure out how to do that through operational imperatives," Matsinger said, adding that the expansions typically are financed through operating funds rather than debt. Donations to Virtua Health instead "belong in the community" and they are directed to local charitable initiatives such as Virtua's mobile grocery store and mobile farmers market that stop weekly in several South Jersey communities. Virtua has had a long-standing presence in Camden, dating back to the late 1800s. Besides Lourdes and Oliver Station, it has a variety of care and rehab offices on Atlantic Avenue. "Camden is a walking community, it's a public transportation-dependent community," Matsinger said. "That's why we run so many mobile programs in the city of Camden for those who can't get there." Virtua's mobile philosophy applies to other services in South Jersey, including a mobile pediatric unit and mobile cancer screening. The health system is closely watching its Oliver Station initiative in partnership with Camden-based developer The Michaels Organization. Hospital executives have discussed the possibility of more projects combining primary care and apartments like Oliver Station, which is being viewed as transformative, Matsinger said. "What we would like to see is the success of Oliver Station and then think about where the next could be," he added. On "any given day, I'm taking care of more people in their homes than I am in our acute care brick-and-mortar hospitals," Matsinger said. About 1,400 patients are getting Virtua attention in their homes each day, compared with about 1,200 at the Virtua hospitals. Before the COVID pandemic, the number being treated in the home totaled about 800. "I think that people want to be at home when they can be. They want to get their care there. Sometimes it's not the appropriate venue. We're learning more and more," he said. Nearly all the hospital system's soft tissue surgery - from appendectomies to hernia repairs to gall bladder surgeries - no longer require the surgeon's hands inside the patient's body. Robotics, controlled by the surgeon, are making far smaller incisions and, while in the patient, can move 360 degrees and in other ways that the surgeon's hands could never emulate, Matsinger explained. The outcome is faster recovery, minimal pain, less time spent under anesthesia and far less time spent in the hospital - if at all. "Surgeries that used to keep people in the hospital for days, they're leaving in hours," he said. "People are going home faster, they're going home on less pain medications, and they're getting back to their normal life significantly faster." And then there is Artificial Intelligence, the AI that has captured the attention of the public and businesses. "We're all going to have to figure out AI," Matsinger said. To Matsinger, the application of AI is simple: harnessing data and gaining insight to improve patient care. An example is how Virtua is using AI to assist physicians in real time as they conduct colonoscopy exams. The system used by Virtua has pulled together videos from millions of other colonoscopy exams and offers advice to the physician during the exam. "Hey, just look up in that corner. That doesn't look right," the AI technology might recommend based on its learning from the millions of exams. Sometimes it's nothing. At other times, the physician realizes "that could be something. Let me take a little deeper look at that," Matsinger said. "Any GI doctor (gastroenterologist) can go in and see a big cancer. That's not challenging. It's making sure you don't miss the small adenoma that, in seven years, is going to be a big adenoma and turn into a colon cancer. So we have a phenomenal adenoma detection rate," he explained. The "true gem" of the Lourdes nursing school has guided Virtua to expand its nursing education programs with multiple entry points for student nurses, from the traditional RN program to a four-year bachelor's degree program started four years ago with Rowan University. Virtua also assists employees in entry-level positions who aspire to nursing by working with them to get to college and offering financial assistance for their education. "Our path in the future is to help build the clinical staff of the future to help fortify Virtua," Matsinger said. Besides investing in nursing education, Virtua has also expanded the residencies it offers newly minted doctors out of medical school. The Virtua system has gone from having about 20 residents to now, after seven years, having 300 residents. Matsinger said Virtua realizes that not everyone who graduates from its nursing or physician training programs will become a Virtua professional. But there are clear advantages for both the graduate and Virtua in staying, he said. They know the culture of Virtua and Virtua knows them. "To (hire) 50% of the residents graduating is phenomenal," he said. "In some programs, we've gotten 80% to 100%."

Virtua Health earns national 'Greater Good' Award. Virtua Health, South Jersey's largest health system, has won nationwide recognition for its initiatives supporting social causes. Not-for-profit Virtua has received a 2025 Greater Good Award in the category of Local Community Benefit, for its Champions of Humanity campaign. Other finalists and awardees include Audible, Mastercard, and Sesame Workshop, as well as Sensodyne and Feeding America. Presented by a group of respected media and marketing firms, these awards "showcase the work being done around social causes, their impact and, ultimately, those working toward the greater good," according to organizers. Virtua's Champions of Humanity framework includes an array of initiatives that address human needs, from food access to mobile health programs to safe, affordable housing. It emphasizes that every person is unique, and that health is influenced by a wide range of factors. "Champions of Humanity is a concept deeply rooted in the understanding that health goes beyond medical treatment, encompassing an individual's entire life and environment," said Virtua President and CEO Dennis W. Pullin. "It recognizes that every person has their own stories and aspirations, and that their well-being is profoundly influenced by their living conditions, opportunities, and challenges." Officially launched in March, Champions of Humanity has already exceeded expectations. Year-to-date, for instance, 85.6% of surveyed patients scored Virtua as a perfect 10 for being treated as a "unique individual" - an uptick from 2024. "This year's winners reflect how organizations are driving meaningful change by addressing critical gaps in opportunity, inclusivity and safety," according to an announcement on Digiday.com. "Together, these initiatives highlight how companies can foster equity, prioritize well-being and build trust while making a lasting impact on communities." The Greater Good Awards are presented by Digiday, Glossy, Modern Retail, and WorkLife. Read more about the judges and their process here. There's so much more to explore. Discover expert insights, inspiring stories, health tips, and more by exploring the content below! Kyersten Corda was just 31 when she felt a lump in her breast. Comprehensive treatment with the Penn Medicine | Virtua Health Cancer Program, including proton therapy, has allowed Kyersten to reclaim her active life. Done with severe pain, Tara R. of Philadelphia crossed the bridge into NJ for a new fibroid treatment. Soon after, she crossed the finish line in a half-marathon. Mindset and lifestyle changes, coupled with bariatric surgery, have helped Andrew meet his weight-loss goals. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) helped relieve Ashley's bipolar depression so she can enjoy life again. Cancer treatment created scarring that damaged Stanley Ollek's heart and blood vessels. The Virtua cardiac team never gave up on restoring his health. Toning down overactive sympathetic nerves that run along the kidney arteries reduced Chris Grosso's blood pressure to normal levels. A left ventricular assist device bolstered Michael Hinchliffe's blood flow, improving his stamina and quality of life. Severe COPD limited Frank Knox's ability to get around, let alone sing. Thanks to Zephyr lung valves, he's breathing better and is back to belting out tunes. An active mom and restaurant owner, Yaneth Ramos placed her loved ones' well-being before her own. When a doctor detected a heart murmur, Virtua cardiologists ensured she received the best treatment for her mitral valve prolapse so she could safely return to her busy life.