SELLERSVILLE, PA. - In August 2018, Penn Medicine and Grand View Health set a vision to develop collaborative services at Grand View Hospital in an effort to provide comprehensive care that kept patients closer to home. Four years later, the relationship is flourishing, with programs in Cancer (including Radiation Oncology), Trauma, Neurosciences, and Orthopaedics. Early this month, the two organizations signed a renewal of their strategic alliance for five more years.
"The world has changed considerably in the four years since the inception of our strategic alliance," said Douglas Hughes, RN, BSN, MBA, president and CEO at Grand View Health. "Our community is growing, and we are expanding to meet their needs. We're exploring every avenue possible to ensure we are always ready to deliver the highest quality of care close to home and our alliance with Penn Medicine is one more way we're making good on that promise."
Most recently, the two health systems came together through the Penn Trauma Network, earning Grand View Health accreditation as a Level II Trauma Center. Since opening last September, the center has provided trauma care for nearly 700 patients, including 67 who received critical care transportation to Penn via the PennSTAR program.
Key initiatives and accomplishments of the alliance have included:
- Development of advanced neurological services, including 24/7 telestroke and teleneurology consultations to provide the very best care for patients when minutes count most, which has facilitated nearly 100 telestroke consultations so far.
- Placement of 58 Penn Medicine physicians on the medical staff at Grand View Hospital, representing about 15 percent of the hospital's physicians.
- A 25 percent increase in radiation oncology services and, in orthopaedics, a 27 percent increase in office visits and a 20 percent increase in surgical procedures.
The contract renewal includes terms which strengthen the collaboration, anticipating significant program development and extending the timeframe of the engagement into 2027.
"Over the first four years of our alliance with Grand View Health, patients in Bucks and Montgomery counties have had access to the highest level of healthcare right in their own community," said Kevin B. Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. "In everything we do, the patient is at the center. When it's a tough case, we want to be able to help them through the specialized expertise available at our Philadelphia campuses, but as much as possible, we're focused on meeting the patient's needs and their family's needs close to where they live. Together, we're giving patients as many options as possible."
