The Newark Beth Israel Hospital was founded by the Jewish community of Newark, New Jersey in 1901 to provide quality medical care in a facility that welcomed physicians and patients of all spiritual backgrounds. The Founders emphasized that the quality of care must be provided in a setting which embodied the Jewish values of tzedakah - social justice and tikkun olum - repairing the world.

Given the changing healthcare environment of the 1990s, the Hospital's Board of Trustees chose to preserve this historic responsibility through an agreement with the Saint Barnabas Medical Center. In June of 1996 the assets resulting from the sale of Newark Beth Israel Hospital created a separate, independent, permanently-endowed philanthropy - The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.