AS AMERICA CELEBRATES ITS 250TH BIRTHDAY, NEW JERSEY HOLDS A PLACE IN HER HISTORY UNLIKE ANY OTHER STATE.
By Chrissy Buteas, President & CEO, HealthCare Institute of New Jersey
Published by New Jersey Business Magazine
July 2, 2026 ― KNOWN AS BOTH THE “CROSSROADS OF THE REVOLUTION” and the “Medicine Chest of the World,” New Jersey is where the fight for independence evolved into a fight for longer, healthier lives. When General Washington crossed the Delaware and marched through Trenton to Princeton, the greatest threat to his troops was not British firepower, but disease. Smallpox, dysentery, pneumonia, and infected wounds claimed more lives than combat. At the time, life expectancy in America hovered around just around 38 years.
In the centuries that followed, New Jersey helped turn the tide, with our location and talent making it a natural hub for science and manufacturing. Early pharmaceutical compounding, medical instruments, and chemical innovations took root alongside growing industrial centers, universities, and teaching hospitals – establishing a culture of discovery focused on translating science from bench to bedside.
Roughly 150 years ago, a new revolution began. Companies like BD, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck established roots here, launching what would become the world’s most concentrated life sciences ecosystem. Read the full op-ed here.