Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Fall 2021 - 27

Response: I have to give our Board of
Directors credit for the way in which they
responded to our situation, and the thoughtful
and thorough way in which they worked
through a process to find a new strategic path
forward for Tower Health. We had tremendous
interest from multiple organizations that
wanted to work with Tower Health. We were
looking for an organization that shared the
values that are important to Tower Health:
excellence in clinical care, a commitment to
medical education, and an orientation toward
community service. Penn Medicine certainly
checks all those boxes, in addition to having
a well-deserved reputation as one of the finest
health systems in the country. The parameters
of our relationship will be worked out over
the months ahead, but I want to emphasize
that Tower Health remains responsible for its
own future. Our clinical and administrative
leadership is continuing its work in improving
quality, service, and operations. The decisions
we make along those lines will be ours.
5) Penn Medicine is probably the
largest health care system in this region and
certainly has a very prestigious reputation.
What is it about Penn Medicine that
seems to make this a " strategic " fit? One
obvious question relates to the creation of
the Drexel/Tower Medical School campus
in Wyomissing. That is indeed a beautiful
facility with great promise for the Drexel/
Tower relationship and our community;
however, might that not complicate a
relationship with Penn Medicine?
Response: Tower Health and Penn
Medicine have a lot of shared values, and
Penn has a strong track record of working with
other health systems in a way that benefits
patients and communities. Tower and Penn
have long had a number of different working
relationships. We know them and they know
us. Penn is also a neighbor of Drexel University
and there are long-standing relationships there
as well. Tower's relationship with the Drexel
University College of Medicine is strong and
we don't see any impediments to the medical
education and training that will take place
at Reading Hospital through DUCOM at
Tower Health. In fact, the stronger Tower
Health is, the better it will be for DUCOM at
Tower Health and the medical students we are
helping to train there.
6) You have announced that an
" Affiliation Steering Committee " has been
formed with Tower Health and Penn
representation. What is the purpose of that
committee and who will represent Tower
Health? Is there a timeline for them to make
a report? What happens in the meantime?
Will plans with Penn proceed or are the
next steps awaiting developments from the
steering committee? Would you comment
on what you hope the future relationship
with Penn might look like?
Response: The Affiliation Steering
Committee will be charged with identifying
ways in which a more formal relationship
between Tower Health and Penn Medicine
might work. Working groups in targeted areas
will also form, and we will have extensive
input at all levels by clinical leadership from
both organizations. We have said this work
will take approximately six months, but we
are not working on a hard deadline. And
even after that point, depending on what
specific opportunities are identified, additional
time will be needed for those opportunities
to be formalized and implemented. In the
meantime, we will be opportunistic-as our
recent announcement about transplant services
indicates. In that case, we had a chance to
save an important clinical service at Reading
Hospital and for the Berks community by
transitioning the Tower Health Transplant
Institute to Penn. Our colleagues at Penn
stepped up in a way that will really help our
patients.
7) The COVID-19 Pandemic has made
this already a most challenging year for
all of us and of course it has been quite
challenging for the Tower Health staff.
Do you have any comments for those staff
members and in particular our physicians
who might be truly concerned about their
future with Tower Health? Do you see an
affiliation with Penn Medicine having a
direct benefit for them?
Response: The work of physicians against
COVID-19, not only at Tower Health but
across the country and around the world, has
truly been heroic. Tower Health has had the
added challenge of how COVID-19 impacted
our finances. The contributions of our clinical
staff in our turnaround have been very
important, for which I am deeply grateful. I
think our relationship with Penn Medicine has
a lot of upside for our medical staff. Working
with Penn, we will look for opportunities to
enhance the scope of and access to world-class
clinical services. This is what you see when
you look at the relationships Penn Medicine
has formed with other health systems. It really
is about elevating the level and quality of
care that is available in the community. I'm
really excited about the possibilities of our
relationship with Penn Medicine, and I hope
our clinicians are as well.
8) We also do not want to ignore the
concerns of the patients served by Tower
Health, Reading Hospital in particular in
Berks County, nor indeed the interests of
each community served by Tower Health
System hospitals and facilities. How much
of a part of any decisions about the future of
Tower Health did concern for patients and
community impact have? Are these issues
still a part of the discussions with Penn?
Response: Protecting our mission of caring
for patients is at the core of everything we are
doing at Tower Health. This is why we are
working so hard to strengthen our operations
and drive clinical improvements. We know
that Penn Medicine shares this commitment
to excellence in patient care and community
service, which is another reason why we think
working with Penn Medicine is such a great
opportunity for Tower Health.
9) I know that you would be the first to
say that this announcement of a " strategic
alliance " with Penn Medicine is only a
first step. What would you see as positive
outcomes with the Penn relationship? In
particular where would you like to see Tower
Health be positioned in five years?
Response: I have said many times that our
planning horizon for Tower Health is not just
next year, or two or three years from now. We
are planning to be here for the decades to come
and are making decisions today that we believe
will best position us for many years of future
service to the community.
Thank you very much for sharing your
thoughts with us and our readers. We
certainly wish you and all the Tower Health
staff success as you meet the challenges
before you.
F ALL 2021 | 27
Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Fall 2021

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