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Massini: ‘We’re heading in the right direction’ on goals

Penn State Health CEO Steve Massini sent the following email to employees Tuesday about the health system’s organizational goals.

Dear Colleagues,

We’ve had a lot to celebrate this past month.

Milton S. Hershey Medical Center marked a milestone birthday. The last steel beam was put in place at Lancaster Medical Center. Holy Spirit Hospital and its 28 outpatient practices joined Penn State Health, and just last week, we opened our long-awaited expansion at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital.

And we did this amid a pandemic – wow!  This was truly a team effort.  I am so proud of what all of you have accomplished and I continue to be excited about the future.

We have 2,500 new employees this month, so I want to revisit our organizational goals for this fiscal year and share the link to our first quarter results. I also want to tell you about a change we made to our mission and vision statements. Penn State Health’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of the people of Pennsylvania and beyond, and our vision is to be Pennsylvania’s most trusted health care provider. To get there, we need a roadmap – and that’s where our organizational goals come into play.

Here are our fiscal year 20/21 goals:

Quality & Safety:

  • Reduce our hospitals’ serious safety event rates by 2%
  • Increase the percentage of Medicare patients receiving their annual wellness visit at our community outpatient practices from a pre-COVID baseline of 59% to 61%

Patient Experience:

  • Increase patient satisfaction scores across our hospitals and outpatient practices by 2% 

Employee Experience

  • Create a more diverse workforce and inclusive culture

Financial Performance

  • Achieve a Penn State Health operating margin of 2%

When we provide safe, high-quality care, our patients have better health outcomes. When they have a positive experience with us – from the moment they call to schedule an appointment until they pay their final bill – it shapes the way they view our health system, what they tell others about us and it, too, can affect their health outcome. Our workforce is the heart of our organization, so we want to recruit and retain the best people and create a culture that empowers all of us to achieve our fullest potential. And, we need a margin that allows us to invest in our patients, people and our programs.

You can read more here about our organizational goals and our first quarter results. We’re heading in the right direction on most of these goals. It’s important to note that Holy Spirit hospital and outpatient practices will not be included in this fiscal year’s outcomes as integration is still underway.

Additionally, our board of directors amended Penn State Health’s mission and vision statements recently to include our commitment to provide patients with culturally responsive care. You can read the full statements here. Our communities are becoming more diverse, and when we provide care that respects and honors the influences that can affect each patient’s health – including their language, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and life experiences – we build trust. We break down barriers. We empower honest, open communications. And, we come closer to fulfilling our mission and vision.

Before I close, I invite you to join Penn State Health leaders at noon Wednesday for our next town hall. COVID cases are rising again. As we head into the holidays, it’s crucial that we remain diligent in following safety recommendations at work and at home. At the town hall, we’ll talk about our plans to continue supporting our patients and workforce during this pandemic. If you want to submit a question ahead of time, please send it to askacovidq@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.

Thank you for all that you do.

Steve Massini
Chief Executive Officer

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