Learning at PF

Penn Foundation Partners with Thomas Jefferson University to Offer Psychiatric Residency Program

Earlier this year, Penn Foundation piloted an innovative psychiatric residency program in partnership with Thomas Jefferson University. For six weeks, Chief Resident Dr. Dan Neff and medical students Johanna Beck and Amanda Matheson spent time in several of Penn Foundation’s programs. Says Dr. Neff, “This was my first experience in a non-urban setting, and it exceeded all of my expectations. Penn Foundation has tremendous programs and has found truly creative ways to partner with the community. We definitely need to continue sending our students here.”

Fostering Tomorrow’s Leaders: Penn Foundation Completes Second Year of Leadership Institute

From March through September, midlevel managers from Penn Foundation (7) and Grand View Health (5) participated in the second year of the Leadership Institute. Led by Nancy Aronson, PhD, a faculty member of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and coordinated by Karen Kern, LCSW, Penn Foundation Vice President of Education and Training, the Leadership Institute is an annual program designed to foster an understanding of leadership and an enhanced sense of teamwork among a multidisciplinary group of staff.

The Leadership Institute is designed to facilitate individual leadership skills, develop a deeper understanding of one’s role managing up and down within one’s own organization, and foster greater communication between Penn Foundation and Grand View Health and within the organizations themselves. This year’s class consisted of a cross-section of employees from both organizations, including staff from programs that are located off the main campus and nonclinical staff.

The Leadership Institute has exceeded its goal to decrease staff turnover by 4 percent over three years; in just two years, staff turnover has decreased 5 percent. Additionally, since completing the Leadership Institute, two individuals have been promoted – one to Director of Integrated Health Services, providing leadership to current and future strategic collaborative relationships with primary and secondary care institutions, and another to Director of Quality Improvement, responsible for planning and directing key quality metrics that drive Penn Foundation’s corporate quality improvement program.