Two Chabad parties coming up this week in Hoboken
Chabad of Hoboken’s annual grand international Purim Party will be held Thursday, March 5, at The Multi-Service Center, 124 Grand St., in Hoboken. This year’s theme, “Celebrating Purim a Paris,” will feature a Parisian dinner and Parisian décor, and great entertainment for all ages, including a caricaturist, air brush art, face paint, balloon shaping, a bar for adults, and more.
Doors open at 4:45 pm. All are welcome to join regardless of affiliation or background.
Chabad will also host an exclusive party for young Jewish Professionals on Wednesday night, March 4 at 8:30 pm at Lulu’s at the W Hotel, 225 River St. Light refreshments will be available, including sushi and Hamantashen, premium top shelf open bar, and more.
For more information and to RSVP for either of these programs, check out the website www.JewishHoboken.com, or call (201) 386-5222.
Stitches for the homeless
To bring awareness of the increased number of homeless in Hudson County this year, Artist Michelle Vitale has created eight blankets using recycled materials, and will hold a public blanket stitching event at City Hall on March 8 from noon to 3 p.m.
Called “Gimme Shelter” the event is one of several being put on throughout the city with the assistance of the Jersey City Homelessness Advocacy Group. BYOB: Bring your own blanket or scarf or sweater to add to the project and scissors and needles to stitch.
Please donate all fibrous materials for the project. Items needed include sweaters, blankets, scarves or anything knitted or crocheted. Materials will be used for the Stitch In and all left over donations will be sent to the PERC Shelter in Union City. For more information, email: woolpunk@me.com
Aetna, Barnabas reach a deal, averting health care coverage disruption
The health insurer Aetna and Barnabas Health, New Jersey’s largest health care provider, announced Thursday they have reached a new, two-year contract, effective March 1, averting any disruption for Aetna members who use the Barnabas system, according to a story in NJBIZ.com.
The only Barnabas hospital that is not part of this new Aetna deal is Jersey City Medical Center, which Barnabas acquired on June 1, 2014. Barnabas spokeswoman Ellen Greene said Jersey City Medical Center is expected to become part of the Aetna network in June 2015.
Earlier this month, as negotiations came down to the wire, Aetna started notifying New Jersey customers that they would need to find new health care providers if the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement before the current contract expired March 1. Aetna said about 18,000 of its New Jersey members receive health care from Barnabas.
Thursday’s announcement said Aetna members who use Barnabas Health hospitals and facilities, or receive care from physicians of the Barnabas Health Medical Group, will continue to be covered at the in-network level of benefits.
It’s not unusual for contract talks between hospitals and insurers to hit a snag.
New Jersey’s largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, announced earlier this month that Christ Hospital in Jersey City, part of CarePoint Health, had terminated its relationship with Horizon and would exit the insurer’s network June 1. However, top executives of Christ and Horizon said they hoped to reach a deal before the current contract expires May 31.
CarePoint spokesman Jarrod Bernstein said Thursday that “we are hopeful we are come to a resolution before the deadline.” He said CarePoint’s two other Hudson County hospitals, Bayonne Medical Center and Hoboken University Medical Center, will remain in-network with Horizon “regardless of the outcome of the negotiations” between Christ Hospital and Horizon.
The new agreement with Barnabas applies to all Aetna health plan products, including Student Health and Medicare.
Jersey City Children’s Theater joins New Jersey Theatre Alliance
New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a service organization for the state’s Equity producing theatres, is proud to announce that Jersey City Children’s Theater (JCCT) has been accepted for membership in the Alliance. JCCT is now recognized, together with the 34 other professional theatre companies that are members of the Alliance, as a major force in bringing the joy and power of professional theatre to all residents and visitors of New Jersey.
New Jersey Theatre Alliance is the hub for the state’s not-for-profit, professional theatres, providing assistance with audience development, fundraising, advocacy, and capacity building. The Alliance also serves as a catalyst for collaboration among member theatres, and provides public programming such as the annual Stages Festival (a statewide festival of theatre in March), the discount ticketing service NJArtsTix, and the Cultural Access Network Project, which helps arts and cultural institutions make their venues and events accessible to people with disabilities.
Kathy Hendrickson, Artistic Director and Founder, considers JCCT’s membership an opportunity to become more fully immersed in the New Jersey professional theatre landscape: “It is important to give jobs to New Jersey artists – to focus on bringing more actors and educators with diversity into the community. I look forward to our theatre becoming more Jersey-centric, becoming a deeper member of the New Jersey theatre family.”
Founded in March, 2011, and located in the historic Barrow Mansion at 83 Wayne Street, JCCT is a not-for-profit production and educational theater company that has served over 11,000 children and their families in the Jersey City community. Hendrickson founded JCCT to address the community’s need for world-class theatre-arts programming and education for the city’s growing, young, and diverse population.