2024 | CSHP 25th Anniversary Symposium & Celebration

Evening Recap

Nearly 200 policymakers, academic colleagues from Rutgers and beyond, stakeholders from across New Jersey and health philanthropies came together on November 21st to acknowledge the  Center for State Health Policy’s 25th anniversary with a symposium and celebration As part  of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, the Center was founded in 1999 with generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) under the leadership of the Institute’s founding Director, David Mechanic. Together with James Knickman, former vice president of research & evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Len Fishman, commissioner of the then New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, they identified the need for an academic center with a mission to inform state health policy in New Jersey. 

Distinguished professor and Founding Director Joel C. Cantor began the symposium with brief opening remarks, acknowledging the contributions of the Center’s many friends and colleagues. “As I look around this audience, I’m struck by two things,” Cantor said. “First, it is so meaningful to be here in person, outside of a Zoom or Teams frame, and especially now. And second, just how incredibly fortunate we have been to collaborate with such a passionate group of professionals over the past two and a half decades.” 

Cantor then introduced the evening’s speakers, beginning with Rutgers Health Chancellor Brian Strom. “At Rutgers Health, we are deeply proud of the Center’s enduring impact on New Jersey’s public health landscape,” Strom said. “The Center exemplifies the type of work that makes Rutgers a renowned research institution – where research isn’t just an academic pursuit but a powerful driver of policies and practices that change people’s lives for the better.” Dr. Strom commended the Center for its collaborative and rigorous research and the role this work plays in furthering the educational and service missions of Rutgers Health. 

Following Dr. Strom’s remarks, attendees heard from Brian C. Quinn, associate vice president for research-evaluation-learning at RWJF. “At the Foundation, whether we’re looking back at our history or ahead to the work that needs to be done in our home state, our support for the Center for State Health Policy represents some of the best of what the Foundation can do to help our colleagues here in New Jersey.” The analytic capacity and culture of collaboration the Center has fostered has made it “a model for how New Jersey can be a leader on a whole range of health policy issues.” Quinn remarked that “Not every state has an asset like the Center for State Health Policy, and I think it’s worth remembering how lucky we are that we’ve got them here in New Jersey.” 

Sarah Adelman, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services, was next to offer her congratulations to the Center. “The Center for State Health Policy’s support is essential. Human Serices has collaborated with the Center on more than 25 Medicaid based projects in the last 12 years across multiple administrations.” This work included evaluations of the NJ Medicaid Accountable Care Organization (ACO) demonstration and subsequent section 1115 demonstrations. “When I think of all the contributions of the Center for State Health Policy, there’s one word that really comes to mind, and that’s ‘humanity.’ The work the Center has produced over the last 25 years has focused on the humanity of the lives being studied. These are not just numbers, not just populations, they are people.” Commissioner Adelman then presented Dr. Cantor with a proclamation from Governor Murphy recognizing the Center’s silver anniversary. 

Headlining the symposium was John E. McDonough, professor of the practice of public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. McDonough was instrumental in the passage of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law, and he spoke to the changing health policy landscape nationally and the renewed importance of the Center’s work. “We really didn’t have, in Massachusetts, and I think you have here, a health care community. And there’s a level of familiarity and sense of community and being in it together regardless of which stakeholder branch you are a part of, and I think that stands out and... I think that’s really what a big piece of value for the state is in making sure that these organizations stay together and thrive.” 

Bruce C. Vladeck, chair of the Center’s External Advisory Committee (EAC) and the former administrator of the then Health Care Financing Administration, now known as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), was next to deliver remarks. “I think, in many ways, [serving as EAC chair] is the easiest job I’ve ever had,” Vladeck said, “because the work of the Center has been so important and so interesting and so well laid out." He spoke to the “special importance of having resources to study, understand, analyze and advocate for change in Medicaid programs at the state level... I can only think of a couple other [organizations] that are even in the same ballpark as this Center in that regard." 

The evening’s penultimate speaker was Tobias Gerhard, current Director of the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, and the Founding Director of the Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science (PETS). “The more I learned about their work,” Gerhard explained, “the more I developed the utmost respect for the way in which the Center was led with its mission-driven values and for its commitment to serving the needs of state policy makers and contributing to the university community.” 

Dr. Gerhard also acknowledged the Center’s upcoming leadership transition, with Joel Cantor stepping down as Director after twenty-five years.  He will remain on faculty and focused on his extensive research portfolio. “What has made [Joel] such an extraordinary and effective leader, and why I am so optimistic about the Center’s future, is that he has infused all his values into the foundation of CSHP. These principles are now a part of the Center’s organizational DNA.” Last to speak was Margaret Koller, the Center’s executive director. She thanked those in attendance for their enduring support for the Center and its work. “We know that people’s time is their most important and valuable commodity and to see all of our friends and colleagues here is very meaningful to Joel and me." 

After acknowledging the commitment of the Center’s faculty and staff, Ms. Koller announced the start of the celebratory reception, which included music from a student Jazz Trio from the Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts.