Geisinger Announces Northeast Integration - Creation of New Model of Healthcare

Wilkes-Barre—Geisinger Health System announced today it is introducing an innovative healthcare model for Northeast Pennsylvania based on a one-hospital concept with two local campuses, each with its own areas of expertise. Geisinger Northeast  is designed to provide a wide spectrum of healthcare services to treat patients in the most appropriate and effective settings.

“The aging population in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, as well as the continued population growth in the Poconos, highlights the need for increased healthcare services that are available locally,” said Geisinger President and Chief Executive Officer Glenn Steele, Jr., MD. “Our goal is to continue making the professional expertise and technology available so people will not feel the need to leave the area for care.”

Under the new model, Geisinger Wyoming valley in Plains Township and Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre will each focus on a portion of the continuum of healthcare services.

Both campuses will continue to have emergency departments, operating suites and inpatient beds.

“These changes represent a new direction for healthcare in the Northeast. At the same time, they are consistent with Geisinger’s integrated health delivery organization and our commitment to Northeastern Pennsylvania—a commitment that we have demonstrated over more than a quarter century at Geisinger Wyoming Valley and since we opened Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre two years ago,” explained Steele.

As programs are integrated on Geisinger’s two local hospital campuses, some services and employees will be moving from one campus to the other. This movement has already begun with the consolidation of sleep medicine services on the Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre campus, the announcement that the Geisinger Wyoming Valley inpatient rehabilitation department will be relocating to Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre in spring of 2008, and the announced consolidation of cardiac catheterization and cardiac surgery at the Pearsall Heart Hospital at Geisinger Wyoming Valley.

“As we move forward with the integration, we expect that the majority of employees will continue in their current positions, while others will have new opportunities,” Steele added. “We will help employees work through any changes, and we will cross-credential our physicians so they can follow their patients at either campus location.”

Northeastern Pennsylvania continues to be an important growth area for Geisinger, as evidenced by the health system’s major investment in the area, including: The recruitment of more than 50 new physicians to the community; $14 million to date in various facility and equipment upgrades on the Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre campus; the construction of a new $60 million critical care building on the Geisinger Wyoming Valley campus; the expansion that is currently underway at the Frank M. and Dorothea Henry Cancer Center at Geisinger Wyoming Valley; the construction of a new counseling wing at Geisinger’s Marworth Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Treatment Center in Waverly, and upgrades to Geisinger Medical Group offices throughout the region.

“We believe that the residents of this area deserve the best quality healthcare close to where they live and work, Steele said. “We are committed to the renaissance occurring in Wilkes-Barre and throughout the northeast, as well as to our role in making this area a wonderful place to call home.”

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