We’re building on the culture of pride and support instilled by former CEO Michele Volpe
When Michele Volpe accepted the position of UPHS Chief Operating Officer, I was honored to step in as acting CEO of PPMC. I’ve been with the health system for nearly 20 years – almost 17 in leadership roles at PPMC. Most recently, I served as associate executive director and COO.
Michele really cares about our employees and spent time connecting with them across the organization. She instilled a family-like atmosphere of mutual support that I intend to continue in my new role.
People often remark that Penn Presbyterian has a different feel to it than other academic medical centers of our size. While we enjoy a national reputation for excellence, somehow our medical center feels friendlier and more accessible than what you’d expect. There’s a pride among our employees that comes from caring about our patients, colleagues, and community.
I was reminded of this pride in late August, during our on-site survey by The Joint Commission. I spent a week with the surveyors, and each made a point of sharing how impressed they were by our staff engagement. They said typically, when surveyors visit a hospital, employees make themselves scarce. Yet, here, our staff were eager to tell surveyors about initiatives they were working on and to talk about our success.
Culture like that is driven from the top of the organization, and I thank Michele for setting the bar high. As I told her, “You’ve handed me a diamond, one you created over 20-plus years. My job is to continue to polish it and make it shine even brighter.”
In the months to come, I will be focused on several key areas, the first of which is patient progression. As patients flow through our facilities, there are opportunities for improvement. A variety of issues impact patient progression, from bed capacity and admissions from transfers, to our patients’ social needs that must be addressed before we can safely send them home or to their next place of care. In order to serve all the patients in our region who need our help, we need to optimize how we manage patient progression so we can create space for each one.
Another area of focus will be the construction projects that are underway, including completion of the new parking garage.
Finally, I am here to make sure our employees at PPMC have the resources and support to continue providing great care to our patients. I’m proud of the work you do and committed to being here for you.