Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Spring 2021 - 28

M e d i c a l R ec o r d F e a t u r e

Welcome New Member
Jeffrey Held, MD, FACP

r. Jeffrey Held is vice president for
medical affairs at Penn State Health St.
Joseph Medical Center. As the leader
of its 400-plus-member medical staff, his focus
is on delivering medical and surgical care that
achieves quality patient outcomes. He also serves
as the medical staff's liaison to all clinical units
and its representative with hospital and system
administrative leadership and board governance.
Before joining St. Joseph in December 2019,
Held served BayCare Health System, Clearwater,
Fla., as the chief medical officer of ambulatory
services, where he led clinical quality for the home
health agency, outpatient radiology, outpatient
laboratory services, urgent care and BayCare's
direct to consumer telehealth.
Before taking on an administrative role, Dr.
Held practiced as a primary care physician and
hospitalist. In addition, he previously served as a
physician informaticist, as interim chief medical
information officer and as a vice president of
physician services. He implemented an electronic
health records system and has led initiatives to
improve the quality of care by developing written
standards to identify and treat specific diseases.
Held earned a bachelor's degree in
anthropology from American University,
Washington, D.C. He completed his medical
degree at the University of Florida College of
Medicine in Gainesville, where he received honors
for special achievement in community service.
He completed his internal medicine residency
at the University of Maryland Medical System
in Baltimore, where he was elected to Alpha
Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. He is
board-certified by the American Board of Internal
Medicine and is a fellow of the American College
of Physicians.
The Berks County Medical Society is grateful
for Dr. Held's support and looks forward to
continued collaboration with Penn State Health
St. Joseph Medical Center to support physicians
and work to improve the health of our community.
To get to know Dr. Held a little better, we asked
him to respond to a few questions.

www.berkscms.org

What brought you to Berks County?
I was drawn to Penn State Health St. Joseph
for the unique opportunity to work in a multihospital health system that includes both an
academic medical center and community
hospitals. Also driving my decision was Penn State
Health's innovative partnership with Highmark
Health to develop a high-value, community-based
health care network focused on keeping care local
and enhancing collaboration with community
physicians.

What is Penn State Health St.
Joseph's organizational focus?
St. Joseph is focused on consistent investment
in technology, people and growth from within and
through partnership with organizations, such as
Penn State Berks and Highmark Health, to have a
positive effect on both community health and the
patient experience for years to come.
One of the most significant improvements
we've undertaken is a four-phase renovation of
our catheterization laboratory spaces. The first
phase included construction of a state-of-theart hybrid catheterization laboratory. Phase 2
is underway now and includes upgrading of
equipment to support the latest cardiac vascular
and interventional procedures. Phases 3 and 4 will
include upgrades in equipment and technology for
our electrophysiology room and a procedural room
to improve efficiency, quality and staff and patient
safety.

How has Penn State Health St.
Joseph responded to the pandemic?
From the start of the pandemic, St. Joseph has
chosen to lead. We simultaneously focused on the
safety of our patients and staff by implementing
numerous enhanced safety measures and
accommodations, including frequent disinfection
and cleaning of common areas, high-touch items
and exam and procedure rooms, and enhanced
cleaning between patients. At the same time, we
enforced social distancing and mask wearing and
introduced new visitor guidelines that we adjusted

Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Spring 2021

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