New Jersey Assemblywomen Nancy Muñoz (R-21) and Shavonda Sumter (D-35), whom have made health care their missions in public office and in their professional careers, were presented the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Awards on Sept. 20.
This Republican and Democrat have made it a priority at the State House to improve, and in some cases, transform the delivery of health care in New Jersey. And their policy is fueled by real world experience thanks to their successful careers in the health care profession.
“It’s important for women to accept recognition,” Sumter said during a ceremony at the National Conference Center in East Windsor. “We don’t toot our own horn. We came to Trenton to do the things that need to be done. Not for transactional reasons, but to do the right things for the people of New Jersey.”
Muñoz said: “Being an innovator in health care at this point in time in New Jersey and in the U.S. is critically important. I will continue to work toward an increase in access to health care.”
Muñoz, a Republican, revealed how to be an effective legislator when your party does not control the Assembly. “When I see an issue that’s important, the first thing I do is look for a Democrat (to team up with), because I am a member of the minority party, and because it’s important. It’s good to know I have Shavonda.”
The bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by these two legislators are examples of supporting policies that benefit more than just the constituents inside their own districts. Their policies benefit all 9 million people who call New Jersey home.
They have teamed to pass laws including one that gives patients more access to affordable biologic medicines; another regulating the safe handling of chemotherapy drugs; and a measure prohibiting substance abuse treatment facilities from denying admission to individuals just because they are taking medication for substance use disorder.
Muñoz sponsored groundbreaking legislation, signed into law last year, that authorizes health care providers to dispense advice to patients over the phone or the internet – in one fell swoop making health care more accessible and more affordable. Meanwhile, she is currently the prime sponsor of a bill that would permit advanced practice nurses to prescribe medication to patients – another game changer.
Sumter sponsored a bill - signed into law last year - that requires professional boards to offer online processing for licensure or renewal. This paves the road for more health care practitioners in New Jersey.
“When Assemblywomen Muñoz and Sumter discuss health care at the State House, they are not just discussing concepts from a high tower,” said Tom Bracken, president of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. “They are discussing real life – the real life they have experienced on the ground.”
Assemblywoman Muñoz is the Republican Whip for the Assembly, and her work on public health policy is aided by her varied career of more than 35 years as a nurse. She was in the surgical intensive care unit at Yale New Haven Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital; in the recovery rooms at Mass General and Bellevue Hospital; in the emergency room at Lenox Hill Hospital; and the ambulatory care center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
She was recognized by the New Jersey State Nurses Association as a top nurse in the state in 2016; and was the recipient of the Millicent Fenwick Award for Outstanding Public Service from the Somerset County Federation of Republican Women in 2015.
Assemblywoman Sumter serves as the Conference Leader for the Assembly Democrats. For her career, she is director of behavioral health services at Hackensack UMC Mountainside Hospital in Glen Ridge.
She was described as the most “prolific” legislator for having the most bills signed into law from both houses in 2014. In addition, she was nominated by Emily’s List for the national Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award in 2016. She has been a tireless advocate for uniform access to mental health care.
The Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Award was previously presented to Bonie Bassler, Chair of Princeton University's Department of Molecular Biology, and Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, theoretical physicist, former Rutgers professor and currently president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).