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Penn State Health opened its new Lancaster Medical Center. The new six-story hospital began accepting patients Monday. 

On a raw, gray Monday morning, Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center began accepting patients for the first time.

Penn State Health opened the new $375 million hospital in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, about an hour outside of Philadelphia. For Penn State Health, it’s the system's second new hospital in a year. Penn State Health opened a hospital just outside of Harrisburg, the state capital, in October 2021.

Inside the new, sleek 132-bed hospital a few miles outside the city of Lancaster, Joseph Frank, Penn State Health East Region hospital president, lauded “the enormously capable staff we assembled here.”

Health system executives around the country have talked about 

the difficulties they have had finding and keeping workers

. Frank admitted to having some anxiety a year ago about hiring enough staff for a new hospital.

Penn State Health recruited some experienced leaders, and they helped entice other doctors and nurses to follow, Frank told 

“Everyone thought we’d have a problem with recruiting,” he said. “We didn’t.”

“I think we were very fortunate in that we were able to attract a lot of nursing leaders who had reputations and experience, and lots of other nurses followed them and wanted to be part of this new culture,” he said.

In fact, the hospital has a waiting list for registered nurses. “Other people are waiting to join us,” he said.

“They want to be part of something fresh, something new,” Frank said.

Frank stressed that they haven’t just filled staff openings but recruited a team of people with years, even decades, in healthcare.

“We’ve got lots of seasoned people here,” Frank said. “When you start up a new hospital, you need experienced people.” 

(See excerpts of our conversation with Joe Frank about the new hospital. The story continues below the video.)

Joseph Cacchione plans to take Jefferson Health ‘to a new level’

The Lancaster Medical Center sits in a rapidly growing county, and the new facility is about 30 minutes from Penn State Health’s flagship campus in Hershey. Lancaster County is well known for its Amish community and the hospital offers parking for Amish families’ horses and buggies. Beyond the Amish and rolling farmland, Lancaster County is home to a diverse mix of businesses.

Lancaster General Hospital, operated by Penn Medicine, has served the region for more than a century. UPMC also operates a hospital in the county. 

Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center will take some of the burden from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, which is typically filled to capacity, Frank said. The Lancaster Medical Center also offers outpatient services and physician practices. Frank anticipates cardiology is going to be a strength.

The new hospital has room for growth. The building can be expanded up to 153 beds. Penn State Health also owns a tract across the road from the hospital and Frank envisions more doctors offices will be built there at some point. “We’ve come in with a very modest footprint,” he said.

At the same time, health systems are increasingly looking 

to deliver care outside of the hospital and in the home

. The changing nature of healthcare played a role in deciding the size of the new hospital.

“Home care is going to be really big,” he said. “We didn’t need to build 400 beds here.”

The new hospital includes an emergency department with over 30 beds, including separate beds for patients with mental health needs.

The emergency department includes a room reserved for victims of sexual assault, offering them more privacy so they can receive treatment and talk more openly without being heard by other patients and staff.

Michael Reihart, the director of the hospital’s emergency services, is a well-known figure in the area’s medical community. Reihart helped build a strong team, Frank said.

“Our emergency room here is going to be outstanding,” Frank said.

Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center is offering large, spacious rooms in its maternity unit. The new hospital began accepting patients Monday, Oct. 3, but the women's services is slated to open in November.

The women’s service unit, which is slated to open next month, also will draw patients to the medical center, Frank said. Patients having babies will stay in spacious rooms, with plenty of space for partners, a large tub and an expansive bathroom.

“One of the unique features of the hospital here is our women services program and our birthing center that we’re going to be opening,” Frank said. “It’s staffed by a remarkable group of physicians, midwives, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and support staff. Very dynamic people, very capable people, very experienced people, and they are going to be opening their department in a way that creates a completely different feel than what’s currently available in the community.”

Carol Newsom, director of women’s services at Penn State Health, said the goal is to treat patients and their families holistically. Her team is going to work to engage with patients with warmth to ensure they have the best possible experience.

She also said the maternity unit will offer little luxury touches, including toiletries from local spas. “We’re going to pamper them a little bit,” Newsom said.

Katie Galbraith talks about jump from Duke hospital to Lankenau Medical Center

Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center offers outpatient services. The new hospital began accepting patients Monday, Oct. 3.

In addition to the medical center, Penn State Health opened a new pediatric center in Lancaster County in the summer. While Penn State health is undoubtedly expanding its presence in the county, system leaders point out they have been serving the community for years.

Lancaster County, home to more than 550,000 residents, sits as a logical place for expansion for several reasons, Frank said. It’s one of Pennsylvania’s fastest growing counties. The county is also gaining more popularity as a place to retire. The Lancaster area has a large population of seniors, and they will need more medical services.

“We’ve spent years planning and designing this facility. So we know our growth here will be very deliberate, very sort of purposeful in terms of how we add capacity going forward,” Frank said. “It’s clear that in three to four years, we will be expanding our ability here to continue to take care of more people. Lancaster County is growing, and the population has a high percentage of people who are over 65, who utilize healthcare at higher rates, and we’re prepared to make those accommodations.”

While he talks about the hospital’s growth in the future, Frank clearly takes immense pride in what has already been built.

“We’ve got all this great momentum,” Frank said.

Walking throughout the hospital, Frank points at different paintings from artists living in Lancaster County. The hospital features hundreds of pieces of art from local artists. One painting of a rural landscape was contributed by a local artist whose son was successfully treated for cancer at Penn State Children’s Hospital, Frank said.

He repeatedly spoke about the staff and how they’re going to engage patients. “They’re going to deliver those high patient satisfaction scores,” he said.

“The patient experience here is going to definitely be our brand,” Frank said. “People are going to quickly differentiate that this is a wonderful place to get care provided by very experienced, dynamic people.”

When asked what he’s most excited about, Frank said it’s “the culture that we’ve created here and the team that we’ve assembled.”

“We’re very focused on creating a very unique experience here for patients and also for the staff that works here,” Frank said. “It feeds on each other: a dynamic staff delivering dynamic care for our friends and neighbors.”

Articles

It’s Penn State Health’s second new hospital in a year. Joseph Frank of Penn State Health talked with Chief Healthcare Executive about building a staff and planning for growth. 


Penn State Health opens new $375M hospital in Lancaster County

With more doctors being assaulted and targeted, three major health groups are urging the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the threats of violence aimed at physicians and children's hospitals.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and Children’s Hospital Association sent a 

 Monday to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. They urged the attorney general to take action to stop the disturbing rise in threats and violence aimed at doctors, hospitals and families for providing and seeking gender-affirming healthcare.

“We write to urge you to investigate the organizations, individuals, and entities coordinating, provoking, and carrying out bomb threats and threats of personal violence against children’s hospitals and physicians across the U.S.,” the letter states.

The health groups are also pressing social media platforms to stop the spread of misinformation and rhetoric that incites threats of violence aimed at children’s hospitals and physicians. They called on Twitter, TikTok and Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, to take steps to stop the coordinated spread of disinformation.

Moira Szilagyi, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, implored federal authorities to take action.

“Whether it’s newborns receiving intensive care, children getting cancer treatments or families accessing compassionate care for their transgender adolescents, all patients seeking treatment deserve to get the care they need without fear for their personal safety,” Szilagyi said in a statement. 

“We cannot stand by as threats of violence against our members and their patients proliferate with little consequence," she said.

Amy Wimpey Knight, president of the Children’s Hospital Association, said the group is seeking “to prevent misleading and inflammatory comments that result in threats to those caring for patients.”

“We are committed to providing safe, supportive and inclusive health care environments for each and every child and family, and the clinicians and staff who are dedicated to caring for children,” Knight said in the statement. “Threats and acts of violence are not a solution, nor a substitute, for civil dialogue about issues of a child or teen’s health and wellbeing.”

The health groups state that the attacks are disrupting patient care. 

Threats aimed at Boston Children’s Hospital

 have drawn national attention, but the organizations said these attacks, fueled by disinformation on social media, are occurring around the country.

“From Boston to Akron to Nashville to Seattle, children's hospitals, academic health systems, and physicians are being targeted and threatened for providing evidence-based health care,” the letter stated. “These attacks have not only made it difficult and dangerous for institutions and practices to provide this care, they have also disrupted many other services to families seeking care.”

“Children’s hospitals and their medical staffs continue to face increased threats via social media – including to their personal accounts. Coupled with harassing emails, phone calls, and protestors at health care sites, there is elevated and justifiable fear among families, patients, and staff,” the letter stated.

Jack Resneck Jr., president of the AMA, said the organization will work with federal authorities to protect doctors.

“Individuals in all workplaces have the right to a safe environment, out of harm’s way and free of intimidation or reprisal,” Resneck said in a statement. “As physicians, we condemn groups that promote hate-motivated intolerance and toxic misinformation that can lead to grave real-world violence and extremism and jeopardize patients' health outcomes.”

The groups represent more than 270,000 doctors and more than 220 children’s hospitals.

Children’s hospitals are being forced to increase security measures, the groups said.

Doctors and hospital leaders have denounced the rise in violence aimed at physicians, which they say has risen during the pandemic.

Most emergency doctors have reported rising violence

, and they say the attacks are driving doctors and nurses out of emergency medicine. They also say it is impeding their ability to care for patients. When hospital staff must subdue an attacker, wait times in the emergency department grow longer.

They want Attorney General Merrick Garland to stop threats targeting providers of gender-affirming healthcare. Social media platforms also must curb the rhetoric that incites threats and attacks, they said.

Health groups press Justice Department to stop attacks aimed at children's hospitals, doctors

Hospital performance improved in August, but health systems are still in negative territory, Kaufman Hall said in its new report.

The median Kaufman Hall Year-To-Date (YTD) Operating Margin Index was -0.3% through August, the consulting firm said in its new monthly report, which came out Monday. The index has been in negative territory for all of 2022 so far.

“Nine months into a challenging year, margins have fluctuated wildly,” the report states. “Although most metrics improved from July to August, organizations are still operating with negative margins and well below pre-pandemic levels.”

Even with hospitals making gains in some areas, “organizations are still in poor shape, with a negative median operating margin,” Kaufman Hall stated. Hospitals have higher expenses and lower volume compared to the levels before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Hospitals are losing billions of dollars this year. Kaufman Hall prepared a report on hospital performance for the American Hospital Association last month. Its stark conclusion: 

More than half of all hospitals are projected to have negative margins for the rest of the year

Hospital leaders describe cuts in services due to financial crunch

Hospitals are seeing some improvement, but they are also seeing more competition in the form of urgent care centers and surgery centers, said Erik Swanson, senior vice president of data and analytics with Kaufman Hall.

“August was a better month for hospital patient volumes with both elective surgeries and discharges up, which combined to improve revenues,” Swanson said in a statement.

“Despite the short-term improvements, though, overall hospital performance is still well below pre-pandemic levels,” he said. “In addition, hospitals need to reckon with new market entrants, like urgent care centers and free-standing surgery centers, that are chipping away at hospital outpatient revenues and overall margins.”

As part of their long-term planning, health system executives should be considering ways to provide care outside the hospital, Kaufman Hall suggests.

As hospitals face economic downturn, leaders must think strategically

The latest report isn’t as dreary as some of Kaufman Hall’s other reports this year. Hospitals brought in more revenue, largely as they treated more patients.

Some patients returned to hospitals for elective procedures, the report suggests. 

Operating room minutes frose 13.6% from July to August and were up 5.5% year over year. Patient days rose slightly from July (0.7%), but are down 7.9% compared to August 2021. Emergency department visits increased 1.1% from July, but they are down 2.4% compared to August 2021.

Adjusted discharges rose 7% from July to August and were up 5.4% compared to August 2021.

The average length of stay in hospitals dropped a bit in August, falling 2.1% compared to July. In recent months, 

hospital leaders have said they are seeing patients who deferred care during the pandemic and are now sicker

, requiring longer and more expensive stays.

Congress gives rural hospitals a reprieve, for now

Gross operating revenue jumped 9.1% from July and is 5.5% higher than in August 2021. Outpatient revenue rose 10.9% from July and is up 7.8% year-to-date. Inpatient revenue rose 4.9% from July to August, and is up 2.3% year-to-date.

Total expenses rose 3.3% from July to August and are 6% higher than August 2021. Total expenses are up 8.9% so far in 2022. Hospitals paid more for supplies in August, with supply costs rising 10.7% compared to July.

Labor expenses rose 1.3% from July to August, but have jumped 10.6% since January.

The number of full-time employees per bed dropped 3.3% in August, compared to July. Kaufman Hall said that indicates “the labor shortage is still very much in effect.”

Kaufman Hall examines data from more than 900 hospitals to produce its report.

Despite some revenue growth, many hospitals are likely to finish the year in negative territory, Kaufman Hall said in its latest report. 


Hospitals improve in August, but stuck in red for 8th consecutive month

Women don’t earn as much as men, even with similar education, and the gender gap has a big impact on the health of women.

Typically, women earn about 80 cents for every dollar earned by men, but the disparity is even wider among women of racial minority groups. Black women earn 63 cents for every dollar earned by men, and Hispanic women earn 55 cents for every dollar paid to men, according to U.S. Census data.

Advocates have pushed for better pay for women for years, and they are now putting more attention on how disparities in pay affect women's health. 

The County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, a program established by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, examined the toll of that gap on women’s health in a forum last week. (To find the gender gap in pay for any county in the U.S., go 

The COVID-19 pandemic added to the pay gap for women, said Corin Reyes, a registered nurse and the director of health equity for the YWCA San Antonio.

“The pandemic actually amplified a lot of the caregiver responsibilities that women were taking on,” Reyes said.

Many women, in addition to shouldering the bulk of household and family responsibilities, are also assuming most of the caregiving duties for older parents or other family members. The typical caregiver of an elderly family members is a 49-year-old woman who is working full-time and providing 20 hours of care, or more. 

“That’s a heavy load to lift,” Reyes said.

As a result, women choose jobs that will accommodate their caregiving responsibilities. “They tend to go for the flexible jobs. Flexible jobs pay less,” Reyes said. “They’re going to take the lower paying job to get that flexibility to take care of home.”

Women with lower incomes are less likely to be able to pay for home healthcare professionals to help care for aging family members. Women are spending more time taking care of family members and often are suffering greater problems with their own health.

Seniors are getting more help at home after hospitalization, but what are the costs?

Women caregivers are six times more likely to experience anxiety or depression, Reyes said. Women caregivers are also more prone to chronic conditions, such as hypertension or diabetes, she added. They are also at higher risk of having a lower immune system.

“One-third of caregivers are already sick themselves,” Reyes said.

Not so surprisingly, those women doing more to care for family members are neglecting their own health needs. “They’re just not taking care of it,” Reyes said.

Two out of three caretakers don’t fill prescriptions at all, and one-third don’t go to doctors for preventive care visits, Reyes said. Exercise or other self-care solutions also fall by the wayside.

“You don’t have time, or if you’re suffering from depression, you just don’t feel like it,” Reyes said.

Misty Moon-Harty, director of racial justice and gender equity with the YWCA San Antonio, said gaps in pay aren’t typically tied to men having more advanced degrees.

“The reality is the wage gap is not about women not having the same level of education,” Moon-Harty said.

Over a lifetime, Black women lose $900,000 due to pay gap with men, and Hispanic women lose more than $1 million, Moon-Harty said.

In addition, many women retire earlier because they have to spend more time as caregivers.

“Women retire earlier typically to take care of family members and then they live longer on top of that. It puts them down in the hole a little bit farther,” Reyes said.

Health system executives have said many Americans have deferred care due to the pandemic. 

Hospital leaders said they are seeing sicker patients

, because some of those patients waited too long for treatment or preventive care.

Researchers have found sharp drops in cancer screenings, according to a 

in March. Researchers examined hundreds of cancer programs between April and June 2021. They found an 80% drop in colon cancer screenings, a 69% decline in screenings for cervical cancer, and a 55% drop in screenings for breast cancer.

In healthcare, women have been affected by the pandemic differently than men.

bigger career setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic

. Women physicians were twice as likely as men to work from home (40.9% to 22%) and reduce their hours (19.4% to 9.4%) due to the pandemic, according to a 

The pay gap, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, has created “a huge crisis” in the health of women, Reyes said.

“To prevent that, we should probably close the wage gap, so we don’t go down this road again, that we already saw with the pandemic,” she said.

Typically, women earn 80 cents for every dollar earned by men. Closing the disparity in pay would improve health outcomes in women, advocates say.

Women earn less than men, and their health suffers due to the pay gap

It’s not a long-term remedy for rural hospitals, but it is a reprieve.

Congress approved a short-term spending bill late last week to continue funding the government. The package includes a provision extending funding for two Medicare programs that provide $600 million annually to rural hospitals, the American Hospital Association says.

Lawmakers acted just in time, and not just because the federal government was set to run out of money on Sept. 30. The Medicare programs aiding rural hospitals were set to expire at the end of the month, adding urgency to the situation.

The spending bill finances the government, and those rural hospital funding lines, through Dec. 16.

Hospitals and health systems, particularly those in rural areas, have been pressing Congress and President Biden’s administration to continue those programs.

Rural hospitals have struggled financially for years

. Since 2010, 136 rural hospitals have closed, according to an 

“Without the appropriate support and evaluation of existing policies by the state and federal government, rural hospitals will continue to be on life support,” the AHA said in its report.

Hospital leaders and analysts say the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed more rural hospitals to the brink. 

Most hospitals are facing staffing challenges and higher expenses

, but rural hospital leaders get the bulk of their money from government sources, which pay less than commercial insurers.

'Patients deserve better': Hospital leaders describe cuts due to financial crunch

While rural hospitals provide essential care to their communities, they typically have a lower volume of patients. About half of all rural hospitals have 25 beds or less.

The American Hospital Association and other healthcare groups have been pushing Congress to extend the Medicare programs aiding rural hospitals.

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have introduced 

a bill to extend the programs for five more years

The House bill would extend the Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) program for five years. The program offers more assistance to smaller hospitals with a large share of Medicare patients. There are more than 170 hospitals with this designation.

In addition, the bill would also continue Medicare’s Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) designation. The program offers assistance to rural hospitals with a relatively small portion of Medicare patients. This program supports more than 600 hospitals.

A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate, with one critical difference: 

it would preserve both Medicare programs permanently.

The Federation of American Hospitals has urged Congress to reauthorize the Medicare programs.

Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, said he was glad to see the Medicare programs get at least a short-term extension. He said on 

 Friday that it was “a step in the right direction” that will help rural hospitals keep their doors open.

Ultimately, Congress should permanently extend the programs, Kahn said.

 to congressional leaders to continue the funding.

“Rural hospitals traditionally serve patient populations that are older, lower income, uninsured and more likely to rely on Medicare and Medicaid when compared to the national average and to their urban counterparts,” the letter stated.

Nearly 900 rural hospitals – 40% of America’s rural hospitals – are facing a serious risk of closure, according to 

the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have proposed 

a new designation for rural providers to help keep them afloat

. Beginning next year, CMS is planning to create a new provider designation dubbed “Rural Emergency Hospitals” to help hospitals with emergency and outpatient services.

Federal programs that provide critical aid to rural hospitals were set to expire at the end of September. Lawmakers approved a provision in the short-term spending bill to sustain funding into December.

Now that the immediate crush of COVID-19 has passed and the dash to implement and roll-out digital offerings has eased, healthcare leaders are beginning to do some soul-searching around their digital strategy.

Top of mind: “What are the digital capabilities that are most important to us—and how can we refine these capabilities for better patient experiences?”

COVID-19 underscored deficiencies in some health systems’ digital approach. For instance, in the rush to mobilize a digital presence, such as for virtual care, most health systems invested in at least three platforms; in fact, 20% of academic medical systems host eight platforms or more, one 

Now, “platform sprawl” presents an obstacle to seamless digital experiences. It’s one reason why 77% of healthcare leaders say their goal is to move toward a single, fully integrated platform.

Taking a new look at digital investments and capabilities from the lens of what is working—and what isn’t—is vital to a truly transformational approach.

Here are three lessons learned in developing a digital and mobile strategy that best meets an organization’s unique needs.

This occurs when lots of digital components are stitched together, but they don’t complement one another, resulting in a disjointed experience.

A thoughtful approach takes into account each aspect of the patient journey to consider: “How could we provide an end-to-end ‘digital companion’ for patients throughout their care experience?” It looks at the larger framework of a digital health platform along with the critical role of mobile engagement.

From there, teams can map out the services that a consumer might find most beneficial, from the ability to schedule services online or view wait times at urgent care clinics to wayfinding assistance beyond the hospital lobby, access to discharge instructions following a patient visit, communication with a nurse when questions arise, and online bill pay. This creates a cohesive experience that consumers crave, boosting engagement and digital retention rates.

At Piedmont Health in Atlanta, where the health system’s mobile platform is integrated with its Epic EHR, the ability to both integrate MyChart and add customized features resulted in a highly agile platform. This positioned Piedmont to respond quickly to changing needs during the pandemic. When COVID-19 vaccines became available, the health system used push notifications to alert consumers and enabled online registration as well as wayfinding assistance to vaccination sites. This gave consumers the information they needed at the touch of their smartphone while relieving pressure on customer call center staff.

If a consumer wanted to use your organization’s mobile platform for wayfinding assistance, would that person need to remember their patient portal login?

It’s one thing to protect access to patient records and other sensitive information. It’s another to require users to authenticate their identity before checking wait times for the emergency department, searching for a physician, or seeking information about a particular service, such as the health system’s maternal health services.

Look for ways to ease access to digital information and services where it makes sense. Remember: Not everyone who accesses your mobile platform will be a patient with a portal username and password. The mobile platform should serve as a digital front door for everyone in your community.

When patients must enter a username and password, make it worth the effort. At University Health in San Antonio, patients can schedule appointments and access their medical records via the mobile platform, in addition to accessing a chatbot to answer questions when they arise or wayfinding assistance from their home to the point of care.

Bring the right people to the table for digital design

One of the downsides to innovation during the height of the pandemic was the speed with which transformation needed to take place. For health systems that had not yet explored mobile platforms, this made it difficult to gather large-scale input on the features that would drive installs and keep consumers coming back.

Now, healthcare leaders have an important opportunity to involve multiple stakeholders—from marketing to patient access to employee and consumer focus groups—to help answer the question: “What mobile experience do consumers most want?”

They also can leverage employees to help promote use of the mobile platform by teaching consumers what they could gain by using the app, such as the ability to more effectively monitor their chronic condition or request a medication refill from their doctor.

At WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, N.C., leaders held a “launch party” for their mobile platform where employees could try out the health system’s new digital platform and offer feedback. They also hung posters throughout facilities and in the parking garage and created TV commercials heralding the arrival of the app and included messaging in employee and physician newsletters about what to expect.

Today, WakeMed employees often serve as “mobile ambassadors,” showing patients how to use the app and all the features they can access. Even if your organization has rolled out its mobile solution, now might be the time for a “relaunch party” to underscore its value.

By taking a fresh look at digital investments from the viewpoint of the user experience and the impact for operations, health systems can more effectively adjust their approach for long-term engagement and value.

Joshua Titus is CEO and founder, Gozio Health.

Hospitals and health systems can develop digital and mobile strategies that meet their unique needs. 

A strategic approach to digital transformation: 3 lessons learned 

Airica Steed has been named the next president and chief executive officer of The MetroHealth System in Cleveland.

She will succeed Dr. Akram Boutros, who announced late last year that he planned to retire at the end of 2022. She will take over on January 1.

Steed is currently executive vice president/system chief operating officer of Sinai Chicago Health System and president of Mount Sinai and Sinai Children’s Hospital.  MetroHealth noted that Steed comes from an urban academic health system that is also focused on improving health equity.

She said she sees great opportunities at MetroHealth.

“Coming from one of MetroHealth’s national peers, I know it to be one of the most admired, innovative and progressive public health systems in the country,” Steed said in a statement. “MetroHealth has done an incredible job in developing a patient-centered, whole-system approach that aggressively targets health equity and has a bold and unapologetic focus on eradicating healthcare inequities.”

MetroHealth selected Steed after a national search. MetroHealth Board Chair Vanessa Whiting, who is chairwoman of MetroHealth’s board, hailed Steed’s focus on improving health equity and her history as an innovator and strong collaborator.

“Dr. Steed’s capabilities, character and experience are a perfect match for the qualities we wanted in our next CEO,” Whiting said in a statement. “She comes from a major safety-net healthcare system that shares a similar focus to that of MetroHealth: improving the health of the community in an urban, academic setting.  Airica has been successful in improving quality of care, patient satisfaction, operating results, and health equity.”

MyMichigan Health hires its new chief executive, Blue Cross Blue Shield selects a new lobbying leader, and other leaders take new roles.