Obituary of Stephen K Jones

Stephen K. Jones died Monday, December 6, 2021, at his home in Kendall Park. He was 74. Born in Camden to the late Horace H. and Patricia M. (Maddox) Jones, he lived in Hillsborough before moving to Kendall Park 25 years ago. He earned a BS in Finance from the University of Maryland and an MA in Health Care Administration from George Washington University. Mr. Jones is the former President and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Health System. He negotiated the merger that created RWJBarnabas Health, New Jersey's most comprehensive health care delivery system. Jones developed RWJUH's nationally recognized diversity and inclusion program, which garnered the prestigious American Hospital Association (AHA) Equity of Care award in 2015. He was frequently asked to speak about how the hospital empowered and incentivized staff to increase diversity and cultural competence while reducing costs. After retiring as RWJBarnabas Health's Chief Academic Officer, he became an Executive in Residence in the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he taught courses in healthcare management at the graduate and undergraduate level. Previously he taught in the School of Public Health MPH program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He was honored with numerous awards including the 2014 Outstanding Healthcare Executive Award from the Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Foundation. He served as Chairman of the New Jersey Hospital Association and a board member of University Health System Consortium, the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, and the Center for Medical Interoperability (C4MI). He was a Lifetime Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. A veteran of the United States Air Force, he served during the Vietnam War as a Russian linguist for the Air Force and the National Security Agency. Surviving are his wife Barbara (Kerwin) Jones; two sons – Stephen Jones, Jr. and his wife Yvette of Texas and Robert Jones and his wife Amy of Missouri; six grandchildren – Tyler Castille and his wife Keyla, Joshua Castille and his fiancée Megan Glahn, Ethan Jones, Courtney Jones, Nathan Jones and Alicia "AJ" Jones; his great granddaughter Zoe Castille; two brothers – Richard Jones of North Carolina and Randall Jones of Indiana; and his golden retriever, Quincy Jones. Visitation will be Thursday from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Selover Funeral Home, 555 Georges Road, North Brunswick. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, The State University of NJ or to the Rutgers Athletic program.