September 21, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Chestnut Hill Hospital has a new CEO
by PETE MAZZACCARO

Chestnut Hill Health System, an umbrella organization that includes Chestnut Hill Hospital, Chestnut Hill Rehabilitation Hospital and the Springfield Residence, last week announced the appointment of M. Brooks Turkel as its CEO.

Turkel, a Philadelphia native who transferred here from a job in Chicago, has served the health system as a transition manager and interim CEO since March. He will take control of the organization as it embarks on substantial renovations, particularly to the 100-year-old hospital.

Turkel sat down with the Local for a brief interview last Friday and said he recognized some of the issues the hospital faces with its reputation in the neighborhood, both as a hospital that has changed from a nonprofit operation to a branch of a large health care company, and that its service has declined over time.

“I understand why people question [CHHS’ for-profit status],” Turkel said. “But the way I see it is that we have a different vehicle for financing. Before, the hospital relied on debt markets – they borrowed money. We have a different financing structure that relies on both debt and equity markets.

“We have more similarities than differences, in that we both want to provide the best health care services we can. But in an investor operation, we have deeper capital to draw. The most tangible example of that is that we have the money to tackle the 1991 master plan.”

Turkel also said that the hospital and CHHS were still community oriented.

“We have a local board and many of our employees — including our physicians — are from this community,” he added.

To improve the hospital’s reputation, Turkel said that his overall goal is to improve its quality of service and make it a real community hospital for Chestnut Hill and its near neighbors. To do that, Turkel said CHHS is committed to expanding the hospital, adding doctors and improving the physical structure.

“I’m excited by the things we’re doing,” Turkel said. “We’re building on strong foundations in Chestnut Hill and adding services that we don’t have now.”

Turkel said the first improvement to the hospital’s physical plant is a new obstetrics department and neonatal care unit that will open for business next month. And plans are complete for a 2,200-square-foot oncology and radiation department, which the hospital expects to present to the Chestnut Hill Community Association this week (Hospital representatives will attend CHCA’s Development Review Committee on Tuesday night, after the Local’s deadline for this issue).

In terms of staffing, Turkel said he is pleased with the way the hospital has attracted doctors to work for the new hospital administration. CHHS’ partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Health Network has placed some of that system’s doctors on staff at the hospital. Turkel has also worked on physician recruitment at the hospital, bringing in 14 new doctors since April of this year. He said he has retained the best surgeons at the hospital and is in the process of adding more.

“We’ve paid close attention to our medical staff and to our patients, listening to what they need,” he said. “We recognized that the hospital needed to attract specialists. We just added an endocrinologist — it’s been several years since we had one.”

The hospital is also pursuing placing primary care physicians in neighboring communities. Turkel said there are plans for offices in Blue Bell and Fort Washington, and that he is interested in perhaps opening an office in Mt. Airy.

Turkel noted that part of CHHS’ mission to improve the hospital’s community presence is a commitment to listen to the community.

“I’m interested in being part of the process and getting feedback from the community to find out what they want from us,” he said.

Turkel’s appointment to CEO of the hospital will bring him back to his roots in a way. His mother was from Germantown and his grandfather owned a haberdashery there. He was born at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and lived for his first seven years in Cheltenham Township. His father worked for General Electric in Chestnut Hill. His family moved to Yardley when he was seven.