PHILADELPHIA — Michele M. Volpe, FACHE, chief executive officer of Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC), has been named the new chair of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania’s (HAP) Board of Directors. She will begin her term as chair on January 1, 2021.
“I have been involved with HAP for decades. Throughout my entire career, I’ve participated in work on impactful committees addressing topics like behavioral health and strategic planning,” Volpe said. “When I was asked to join the Board of Directors, I was excited by the opportunity to be closer to the decision-making and to play a greater role in helping the organization formulate their positions and drive solutions to support and transform healthcare across Pennsylvania. My association with HAP has been not only enjoyable, but gratifying; now, having privilege to work with Andy Carter and his team as chair is truly a key moment in my career.”
Volpe has served as PPMC’s chief executive officer since January 1999. During her tenure, she has overseen transformative projects including the opening of Penn Medicine University City, the relocation of Penn Medicine’s Level 1 Trauma Center from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania to PPMC, and the construction of the Pavilion for Advanced Care, a state-of-the-art facility for critically ill and injured patients, which opened its doors in 2015. Additionally, she has been a member of HAP’s Board of Directors since 2016 and has served as its treasurer since 2019.
HAP is a statewide membership services organization that advocates for more than 240 hospitals and health systems in Pennsylvania. The 28-member board, comprised of health care leaders from across the commonwealth, works to set the association’s strategic direction and priorities relating to fostering a robust hospital community and promoting access to high-quality care for patients.
“Now, more than ever, our Board of Directors needs the steady hands of seasoned leaders to steer the hospital community through the COVID-19 crisis and into a post-pandemic world,” said Andy Carter, HAP president and CEO. “I have every confidence that—with the leadership of Michele Volpe—our new class of directors will bring the right mix of best practices, collaboration, and new ideas to help us evolve to meet the changing needs of our hospitals and health care workforce, and the patients they serve.”
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.