Be Well Community Newsletter: September 2026
“Rural” Means New Jersey, Too
For the more than one million New Jerseyans living in rural communities, getting to a doctor or dentist appointment isn’t always easy. Long drives, lack of public transit, and provider shortages force many residents—especially those with low incomes or without insurance—to put off routine care until it becomes an emergency.
To close these gaps, Zufall Health is launching a comprehensive outreach program across Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren Counties, featuring a significant expansion of mobile services. The program is supported by approximately $750,000 in grant funding from New Jersey’s Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program, a landmark Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initiative designed to strengthen rural health care access nationwide. Read more.
Impact Updates and How You Can Help
Standing Guard for Those Who Served: Debora’s Story
Many years after Debora served with the U.S. Army during the Cold War, she found herself facing a much more personal battle: accessing dental care. Like millions of other veterans, Debora does not qualify for dental insurance through the VA and is left with few affordable options for care. After discovering Zufall Health’s Smiles for Our Heroes program, she is now on her way to restoring her oral health. Read Debora’s full story.
Your Reminder to Join Us at the Be Well Benefit
Step inside the diverse and impressive Morris Museum, and you will find hundreds of stories of art, music, and innovation. On October 1, we hope you will join Zufall Health’s Be Well Benefit at the museum to experience a different story on exhibit: the story of lives transformed when access to health care is no longer a question, even when economic hardship, rising costs of health care delivery, and policy changes threaten to write a different one. Reserve your place by September 15 or make a donation.
People Behind the Mission
Why We Give: Makeda Fryson and Triple B Foundation
Access to health care changes lives, especially for schoolchildren in a critical stage of growth and development. And it’s supporters like Triple B Foundation who make it possible. Earlier this year, the Foundation sponsored an exam room in Zufall’s Franklin Township School-Based Health Center—a gift that funded essential medical equipment. Read more about the significance of this gift for the Foundation’s Board Secretary, Makeda Fryson, and her family.
Meet Your Provider: Michael Ganon, DO
Zufall Physician and Addiction Medicine Consultant Michael Ganon, DO, originally wanted to be an electronics engineer. He eventually found his calling in addiction medicine, a field that demands the same systems thinking as engineering. Recovery happens not through a single intervention, but by addressing multiple, interconnected health and social factors at the same time. See how Ganon puts that philosophy into practice at Zufall in his “Meet Your Provider” profile.
Zufall Boards Add New Leadership
Meet the newest leaders shaping the future of community health. Magda Schaler-Haynes, JD, MPH, Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, has joined the Zufall Health Board of Directors, and George Coutros, Lead for State Government Relations at Sanofi, has joined the Zufall Health Foundation Board of Trustees. Read more about the expertise they bring to the Zufall mission.
More from Around the Health System
Zufall’s Clinical Quality Performance Ranks Within Top 10% of Health Centers
For the eleventh consecutive year, Zufall Health was named a Gold Health Center Quality Leader by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), indicating clinical quality performance among the top 10% of health centers nationwide. HRSA also recognized Zufall with six additional quality badges for excellence in other areas of patient care. Learn more about the quality awards and their significance for Zufall patients.
Fran Palm Says Franklin Township Health Center Is Built on Promise that Health Care Is for Everyone
When Zufall Health initially began exploring locations for its first school-based health center, President and CEO Fran Palm says she reached out to Franklin Township at just the right time. “The district had already been talking about improving access to health care, and when we approached them, they immediately said, ‘Yes, we want to work on this together,'” Palm says. Read more about the origins of the new center and its impact in Palm’s interview with Franklin Township TAPInto.
Zufall Clinical Leaders Share Insights at National Conference
Community health centers share a common goal: making health care more accessible. Sharing ideas, experiences, and lessons learned helps move that work forward. At the annual NACHC Community Health Institute (CHI) & Expo in August, Zufall Health had the opportunity to present insights, including best practices in substance use recovery services and pediatric immunization, to peers from across the country. Read more at Zufall’s contributions to this national conference.
