Metro Philadelphia Healthcare Power Players 2022

Dr. Rita George graduated with honors from Villanova University, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biology. After completing her undergraduate degree, she received her DO from Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tennessee. Dr. George completed her family medicine residency at Lonesome Pine Hospital in Virginia. While in residency, she was working at former Wellmont Physician Services, now known as Ballad Health, as a resident physician.

What can Pennsylvania policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare?
Investing in preventive health measures, prioritizing affordable healthcare including prescription drug coverage, and providing patients with access to transportation to be able to see providers.

When and why did you decide to pursue a career in healthcare?
Many of my family members, including my parents, are in the healthcare field, so I witnessed first-hand the challenging but also rewarding aspects of a medical career.

How do you see the healthcare industry evolving in the next five years?
I think we will continue to see a shift towards integrating technology in healthcare, such as with patient portals and telehealth visits.

Dr. Marla J. Gold, chief wellness officer at Drexel University, oversees university population health, including COVID-19 operations, and is dean emerita and a professor at Drexel’s Dornsife School of Public Health. Dr. Gold’s award-winning career dedicated to philanthropy, health equity, education, research, and practice, includes creating the HIV Partnership Comprehensive Care Practice, and roles as chief of HIV/AIDS medicine and vice chair of medicine at MCP Hahnemann Medical College and as assistant health commissioner for infectious disease control for the City of Philadelphia. Dr. Gold has been a member of the Philadelphia Board of Health for over three mayoral administrations.

What can Pennsylvania policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare?
Policies that lift people out of poverty, create jobs, and improve public education will go a long way in improving health access for all. Lawmakers should take a Health in All Policies approach and look at the impact that new regulations have on health and well-being. This would require the creation of a designated process to review proposed laws for health impacts and the inclusion of projected impact information prior to voting. Medicaid expansion also supports more access to healthcare.

When and why did you decide to pursue a career in healthcare?
During my time in college as a biology major, I fell in love with anatomy, which led me down the pre-med track. I later trained in internal medicine and then in infectious diseases–all right here in Philadelphia! Taking care of people is a privilege and a calling. I initially focused on HIV and AIDS care and the creation of systems of care and later on moved towards health policy and systems design. Reaching large numbers of people through health-related policy is critical to me.

How do you see the healthcare industry evolving in the next five years?
The COVID-19 pandemic sped up some needed changes in healthcare. There should be an increased use of telehealth, and we must work to ensure access to the internet for all who need it. Technology will continue to revolutionize healthcare. While more personalized medicine will be developed, my concern is who will be able to access it. The industry must evolve to be more affordable and accessible. Competitive environments may unfortunately continue to cause the closure of smaller local hospitals. The industry needs to add more emphasis on prevention moving forward, thus lowering costs and resulting in better outcomes.

Neil Goldfarb established the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health in 2012 as a forum for the region’s employers to work collectively to improve workforce and community health and drive healthcare value. With 50 employer members, GPBCH represents over 1.5 million people, and is a voice for increasing healthcare quality, safety, equity, access, and affordability. Sample current initiatives focus on obesity management, diabetes prevention, building corporate cultures of health, and driving transparency of price and quality information for employers and consumers.

What can Pennsylvania policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare?
We could do a lot more both nationally and at the state level to make healthcare affordable for all, like capping out-of-pocket payments and expanding insurance coverage, which would help reduce cost-shifting to employer plans. We also need more equitable provider payments so that primary care physicians, who are critical to preventing and managing disease and coordinating care, are fairly compensated. Finally, we need to keep driving transparency of quality and safety information–public reporting leads to improved performance.

When and why did you decide to pursue a career in healthcare?
As an undergraduate English major at the University of Pennsylvania, I was fortunate enough to obtain a summer job working for an epidemiologist and healthcare researcher. I was inspired by the work and analyzing how we can improve care coordination and quality, and saw the opportunity to contribute to population health without being a care provider.

How do you see the healthcare industry evolving in the next five years?
The current cost trajectory in healthcare is unsustainable for employers, consumers, and society, so it’s critical that we all work together to eliminate wasteful spending. The proliferation of urgent care centers and telehealth provider services is a response to a fragile primary care provider network. We need to move toward improved coordination that addresses physical and mental health needs, and primary care is the specialty most likely to get us where we need to be.

Selected as a top trailblazer in biotech, Audrey Greenberg has a track record of building startup companies through capital attraction, strategic relationships, novel technologies, and top-tier management teams. Audrey is the founder of the Center for Breakthrough Medicines, where she serves as chief business officer. Before launching CBM, Audrey spent two decades working in private equity, investment banking, and public accounting. Audrey has a master’s degree in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is a CPA.

What can Pennsylvania policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare?
There is so much that policymakers can do to promote more equitable access. They must invest in public health infrastructure, improve access to quality education and quality healthcare, improve access to affordable, stable, inclusive, healthy, climate-resilient housing, reduce poverty, and improve economic stability. Policymakers should also address the opioid and substance use epidemic, mitigate climate change and invest in environmental justice, reinforce social connections and community safety, and advance racial equity and inclusive policies.

When and why did you decide to pursue a career in healthcare? 
I grew up in a family of doctors but decide to pursue a career in the business world. After working as an accountant, investment banker, and private equity executive I shifted my focus to triple-bottom-line investing due to deep-rooted motivations to improve the world we live in. After acquiring the GSK R&D headquarters, we decided to repurpose the site into a bio-innovation hub speeding the path to commercialization for CGT.

How do you see the healthcare industry evolving in the next five years?
I predict a move to precision medicines based on biomarker-specific treatments, a focus on cures instead of treatments for diseases, lower healthcare costs due to technological innovations and AI, equality and diversity across clinical trials, a global health reform, and more solutions for impoverished countries.

Geoff Gross is the founder and CEO of Medical Guardian, which specializes in medical devices and other remote patient monitoring solutions and serves over 300,000 active subscribers across the nation. Geoff has almost two decades of experience in the healthcare industry and also serves on the board of directors for the Medical Alert Monitoring Association, the Please Touch Museum, and Delaware Valley’s National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Dr. Howard A. Hassman has over 35 years of experience leading the conduct of high-quality clinical trials. Dr. Hassman has occupied several research leadership positions, including chief medical officer and CEO, and currently serves as the chief scientific officer at CenExel HRI. His passion for giving back to the community commits him to also presently serve as a board member of the Devereux Foundation and the Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center IRB.

What can Pennsylvania policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare?
I appreciate the complexity of this issue, while also recognizing its immediate criticality. More local and federal funds need to be provided to community centers, especially to fund mental health services, enabling these facilities to provide robust care. Pharmaceutical rebates and discounts should be more efficiently supplied to individuals who need them the most. They also need to increase the amount of research done into assessing human abuse potential, which would help significantly in preventing the continuous opioid and substance use epidemic. I am proud that CenExel HRI is a leader in these investigations. This question also speaks to the macro need to implement projects that systemically reduce poverty, whereby education, laws, and job opportunities are pivoted to our marginalized citizens.

When and why did you decide to pursue a career in healthcare?
Without a doubt, both my parents motivated my passion for providing medical treatment to patients. My father, Dr. Joseph Hassman, started his medical practice over 50 years ago. Seeing the caring relationships he built with his patients sparked my interest in pursuing medicine. My mother, Lillian Hassman, is a social worker who taught me how to step outside of my own world to ‘walk the talk’ of empathy. I also wanted to be at the forefront of developing new treatments for patients, so I decided to delve into the world of clinical trials.

How do you see the healthcare industry evolving in the next five years?
We have started to see and will need to continue researching the targeted pharmacogenetic treatment of various psychiatric disorders. There is a strong potential that this precision medicine helps tailor drug therapy for each person or a group of people. Similarly, related to technology, I foresee a greater integration of apps and other personalized computerized systems which will streamline various healthcare services. This too will need to be spread to those who have less treatment access, such as the elderly. More research than ever before is being conducted on dementia and so I am hopeful of forthcoming treatment. Finally, I think there will be more specialized outpatient care centers present and we need to ensure such facilities are present in less populated areas so they can have fair access.

Dr. Michael Hassman is board-certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians. After graduating from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Hassman completed his internship and residency programs at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Dr. Hassman has served as a family medicine physician at Advocare Berlin Medical Associates since 1998. With extensive clinical research experience in general internal medicine, he oversees clinical trials and serves as chief medical director at CenExel HRI.

What can Pennsylvania policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare?
Equitable healthcare starts by increasing funds to ensure more physicians take Medicaid insurance. All too often, many people have no choice but to resort to no care, which then burdens the healthcare system with the overuse of ERs as primary care. In addition, those funds would help strengthen other areas, including mental health access and opioid abuse outpatient care, and would help establish programs for marginalized communities, including the LGBTQ+ community. I am proud to say that our CenExel HRI research facilities are able to offer access to equitable care for patients.

When and why did you decide to pursue a career in healthcare?
Like many children who see what their parents have accomplished in their respective careers, I too chose a path to help and care for people as a physician and clinical researcher. In fact, all of my siblings became physicians!

How do you see the healthcare industry evolving in the next five years?
Healthcare has already evolved dramatically in the last two years, especially in these COVID-19 times. The advent of telehealth will dramatically change the future of patient access and remote monitoring and has even entered the world of clinical research. New technology like mRNA is now bringing very new medicines, vaccines, and treatments faster to the forefront than ever before.

Ann Marie Healy is the executive director of the Philadelphia Health Partnership, a private foundation focused on improving the health and well-being of people in Philadelphia, particularly those who have faced barriers to opportunity. Ann Marie brings over 25 years of nonprofit management and development experience to the foundation. She serves on several nonprofit boards and advisory committees, including the Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health and the Salem Health and Wellness Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies from St. Joseph’s University, and is a graduate of the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute at Bryn Mawr College and the Drexel University Leading for Change Program.

What can Pennsylvania policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare?
To ensure equitable access to quality healthcare, Pennsylvania policymakers need to make greater investments in programs that connect families raising young children to the full spectrum of services and supports they deserve to get a healthy start. This requires state policymakers to find better ways to protect and expand access and connections to quality health insurance coverage, including coverage for parents and caregivers in the period before and after birth. Insurance should also fully fund care and services that address the physical, mental, social, and economic drivers of well-being. State policymakers must also secure funding that is critically needed to increase and diversify our healthcare workforce, including addressing shortages in children’s mental and behavioral health providers.

When and why did you decide to pursue a career in healthcare?
My nonprofit career started in the environmental sector over 25 years ago, when I was committed to expanding access to healthy food in urban and suburban communities, advocating for walkable communities, and promoting the stewardship of natural resources to improve the health of Pennsylvanians. Through this work, I witnessed firsthand the positive effects a healthy environment had on an individual’s health and well-being. I brought this knowledge and experience to the First Hospital Foundation, now the Philadelphia Health Partnership, in 1997, where for the past 25 years we have been guided by an expansive view of health, with our grants supporting the physical, mental, and social well-being of Philadelphians.

How do you see the healthcare industry evolving in the next five years?
In the next five years, the healthcare industry must expand its capacity to provide care and services to all citizens that are both culturally and linguistically appropriate and address systemic inequities that are at the root of health disparities. The healthcare industry must make a more rapid transition away from a fee-for-service payment model toward equity-focused financing models that can resource better health outcomes. If this transition is made, the industry will recognize and experience the long-term value of healthcare prevention and promotion strategies. We must also ensure that we prepare for future public health challenges by investing in more effective ways to build trust and finding new and better ways to communicate and educate communities to reduce misinformation.

Dr. C. Frank Igwé is the president of Moravia Health, which serves over 2,000 homecare consumers across Pennsylvania. He lives to ‘do well by doing good,’ and is committed to providing the highest quality of care to those who wish to maintain independence, dignity, and quality of life by remaining in their homes. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, a master’s degree in Public Administration and Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Informational Sciences and Technology from Penn State University.

Dr. Denise Johnson, MD, FACOG, FACHE, is the acting secretary of health and Pennsylvania physician general. Prior to joining the commonwealth, Dr. Johnson was the chief medical officer at Meadville Medical Center, and before that, she spent 13 years in private practice. She is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology by the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Dr. Johnson is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American College of Healthcare Executives, and formerly served on the Governor’s Commission for Women.

What can Pennsylvania policymakers do to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare?
Ensuring access to healthcare includes insurance coverage through state programs, such as Medicaid and Pennie. Policymakers must ensure that these programs pay for the services that people need, and also ensure that providers are available in all communities by supporting workforce initiatives. Finally, supporting the education of providers is crucial to understanding the biases in healthcare services.

When and why did you decide to pursue a career in healthcare?
Even as a young child, I knew that I wanted to be a doctor. In fact, I cannot think of a time when I didn’t! I’ve always been interested in healthcare, and that passion stands true today. I’ve been involved in community and regional groups focusing on diversity and inclusion and on the needs of women, including chairing boards of the Meadville Area Free Clinic and of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.

How do you see the healthcare industry evolving in the next five years?
I think telehealth will continue to increase access to medical care. The technologies available and in development today will change the way we provide and consume care. The healthcare industry has begun to understand the effects of the many biases people have, as well as racism, and how that impacts people’s health and their healthcare experiences. I hope to see increased acknowledgments and a commitment to address this by the industry, starting with educating healthcare providers. There should also be an increased focus on social determinants of health, including access to healthy foods and food as medicine as an approach to healthcare.