The American College of Healthcare Executives recognizes outstanding healthcare leaders who have made a significant impact on our community. These awards celebrate excellence in healthcare leadership, dedication to improving patient outcomes, and commitment to advancing our field.
2025 ACHE Regent Early Careerist Award: Justin Deonarine, CLSSBB
Justin Deonarine is pursuing a joint Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Master of Public Health degree, with graduation expected in May 2026. He previously interned with the New Jersey State Policy Lab, where he conducted and presented research on equitable aging in place and proposed policy recommendations to strengthen social connections across generations. Justin also gained clinical experience at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s Emergency Department, where he led a Lean Six Sigma process improvement project to streamline coordination between the ED and CT scans. More recently, he served as a Lead Clinical Research Assistant for the NJHealth Study at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, and is currently engaged in quality management initiatives at Lenox Hill Hospital.
On LinkedIn, Justin said, ” It is truly an honor and a privilege to be recognized among such outstanding leaders in the healthcare community.”
2025 ACHE Regent Early Careerist Award: John (Jack) Hemphill
Jack Hemphill is currently enrolled in the new Doctor of Health Administration (DHA) program at the Bloustein School. He earned his Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree in 2022 and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from Rutgers University. Mr. Hemphill serves as Program Manager at Rutgers Health. In this role, he manages initiatives for the Vice Chancellor spanning education, research, and clinical care across the academic health system to strengthen the health of New Jersey communities. He also leads the Rutgers Health Service Corps, which provides students with hands-on service opportunities in public and population health.
Jack commented on LinkedIn, “It’s truly motivating as I continue to build my career, develop programs that improve population health across the state, and help students and early careerists make meaningful connections. Networking is my favorite part of ACHE-NJ by the way 🙂 It’s a great space to pay it forward by not just growing yourself but helping others grow too.
I’m grateful for everything ACHE-NJ stands for and strongly encourage anyone in healthcare to check it out!
A huge shout out to all my colleagues, friends, peers (who I can’t name in one post but they know who they are) and the one and only Céu Cirne-Neves, MPA, FACHE for the support.”