30 Jan Essex County Opens Employee Gym and Wellness Program at Correctional Facility
Published on January 30, 2026
Newark, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. dedicated a new employee gym at the Essex County Correctional Facility and announced the start of a new wellness program for employees at the jail on Friday, January 30th. The new initiative is aimed to address the unique pressures and stress encountered by correctional officers and provide opportunities to enhance the physical, emotional and mental well-being of the officers.
“Correctional officers have a very difficult job and perform their duties in one of the most stressful working environments. After some of our officers expressed concern about getting mentally fatigued and their overall wellness, we listened to their concerns and developed this program to help,” DiVincenzo said. “We appreciate the partnership we received on this initiative from the NJ Department of Health which provided a grant to outfit the space and RWJBarnabas Health and President/CEO Mark Manigan for providing the health care specialists to provide the programming. Every employee must have access to resources to help them do their job effectively without it hurting them,” he added. “Physical fitness is tied to overall well-being and to have that joined with the expanded wellness initiative shows how serious we are taking our employees’ overall health. This is just one of the ways we can give our employees the opportunity to be their best,” Commissioner Vice President A’Dorian MurrayThomas said.
“I really appreciate the support we received from the County Executive in getting the employee gym and wellness program started,” Corrections Director Ron Charles said. “As a career corrections officer, I understand the challenges our men and women in law enforcement face every day. These wellness programs will greatly benefit our officers, improve the health and morale of our officers and hopefully assist in enhancing the retention of our workforce,” he added.
“No matter what we do in life, we cannot forget to take care of ourselves,” Director of Public Health Management Maya Harlow said. “Through this initiative, we recognize the difficult nature of being a corrections officers and are offering our employees the tools and resources to take control and help themselves,” she added.
“Healthy lives builds healthy communities and helps people thrive. We are pleased to build on our relationship with Joe DiVincenzo and Essex County and have a role in helping the officers at the Correctional Facility,” said Margie Heller, Senior Vice President for Community Health and Global Strategic Partnerships, RWJBarnabas Health.
The gym is outfitted with free weights, stationary bicycles, treadmills, stretching mats, exercise bands and other equipment. Essex County will expand its partnership with RWJBarnabas Health to provide health care professionals to lead classes and programs educate corrections staff about stress reduction techniques, healthy eating and meal planning, and other topics to enhance their mental and emotional wellness. Data from the program, such as how many officers participate and the frequency of participation, will be maintained to chart the usage and success of the program. Funding for the build out of the exercise room was provided from a County Infrastructure Grant from the NJ Department of Health and Human Services.