Saint Barnabas Medical Center names new chief operating officer

Jennifer O’Neill

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Jennifer O’Neill has been named chief operating officer at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, which will soon be officially renamed as the Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center thanks to a large donation from Leon and Toby Cooperman.

“It gives me great pleasure to welcome back Jennifer O’Neill to the Saint Barnabas Medical Center family,” SBMC President and CEO Richard Davis said. “Jennifer is a passionate and innovative leader who is focused on excellence. She has a proven track record of improving the quality of care for our patients throughout the hospital and in the community.”

O’Neill specializes in creating models of excellence in clinical, operational and administrative realms by spearheading high-impact strategies, programs and teams, according to a press release. Having begun her career at SBMC as a registered nurse and then patient care coordinator, she then spent seven years in the outpatient setting as a nurse practitioner, clinical manager and registered nurse for a busy OB/GYN practice in Livingston. O’Neill rejoined SBMC as a nurse manager, quickly rising through the organization to the position chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services, where she oversaw all aspects of the nursing division, implementing numerous initiatives focused on improving patient care, communication and patient satisfaction until her departure in 2019.

She joined the Hospital for Special Surgery in 2019 as the chief nursing officer and was quickly promoted to senior vice president and chief operating officer. While there she led initiatives around patient experience, throughput and quality. At the height of COVID-19 pandemic, she opened medical units within the hospital to care for COVID-19 patients. As vaccines became available, she launched two vaccination clinics for the staff, physicians, patients and the community.