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Bergen New Bridge Medical Center’s Antimicrobial Stewardship efforts have once again been recognized by The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH). The Medical Center’s Acute Division earned the New Jersey Antimicrobial Stewardship Recognition Program’s 2020 Bronze Steward Award, and the Long Term Care Division obtained the 2020 Gold Steward Award. The New Jersey Antimicrobial Stewardship Recognition Program is meant to acknowledge the achievements of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) in local healthcare facilities. Awardees have demonstrated effective implementation of the CDC Core Elements of Antimicrobial Stewardship. This year, the ASRP application evaluated metrics on hospital leadership commitment, accountability, pharmacy expertise, action, tracking, reporting, and education. “These awards demonstrate our continued commitment to quality and fulfilling our goal of enhancing patient health outcomes, reducing resistance to antibiotics, and decreasing unnecessary costs,” said Deborah Visconi, President and CEO of Bergen New Bridge. “We have many processes in place regarding antimicrobial stewardship including tracking our antibiotic use metrics by drug/dose, organization-wide accountability, including the identification of a pharmacist, nurse, and clinical leader of this program, regular committee meetings, ongoing education, and long-term data monitoring on a number of related markers throughout our Medical Center.” During COVID-19, antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are even more important because improper treatment of COVID-19 with antimicrobials, reliance on telemedicine usage and lack of diagnostic information, and lack of prioritization for antimicrobial stewardship tenants during COVID-19 can exacerbate antimicrobial resistance in hospitals and communities.