Nurse Gives 38 Years Serving New Brunswick's Neediest

Lisa DiGiovanni doesn't take vacation days because she's too excited about the work waiting for her each morning.

In her 38th year at Saint Peter's University Healthcare System in New Brunswick, DiGiovanni leads a team that brings healthcare directly to people who need it most. Her mobile health unit is a 34-foot van equipped as a clinical exam room on wheels, traveling to senior centers, high schools, parking lots, and food banks across Middlesex County.

The numbers tell part of the story. In 2025, DiGiovanni's team served more than 9,000 people through the mobile unit, up 1,200 from the previous year. They administered 3,000 flu shots and caught countless cases of dangerously high blood pressure before they became medical emergencies.

"I don't look at it as a job. I look at it as a way of life," DiGiovanni said. She started as a nursing assistant in 1988 and has since earned multiple degrees, but her mission remains the same: serving her community's minds, bodies, and souls.

The work often means catching problems early. When someone's blood pressure reads 130 over 80, DiGiovanni's team provides education about diet changes and exercise that could prevent serious issues down the road. Those with higher readings get referred to Saint Peter's Family Health Center, while anyone in immediate danger goes straight to the emergency room.

Sunny's Take

What makes DiGiovanni's team special isn't just the thousands they help each year. It's moments like the day in 2024 when they met a woman living in her car at a South River food bank.

The team connected her with a social worker and got her set up with housing services. When she mentioned she didn't have money for gas to get there, DiGiovanni's nurses pulled cash from their own pockets to fill her tank.

"It really was above and beyond," DiGiovanni said. "We do a lot of stuff, but that was extreme."

Her team of four core nurses and about 60 total staff conduct community health assessments every three years to figure out where help is needed most. In 2026, they're focusing on mental health, access to care, healthy eating, and social services.

The mobile unit shows up at festivals and fairs, but the team also does pop-up clinics with just a folding table and a suitcase of supplies. Nurses from other departments regularly request to work with community health on their days off because the work matters so much.

Saint Peter's has been recognized by the New Jersey Department of Health for its vaccination efforts, but DiGiovanni measures success differently: one person at a time, one blood pressure check at a time, one tank of gas at a time.

After 38 years, she still asks the same questions every morning: "What are we doing today? Where are we going? Who are we helping today?"