Geisinger Hospital (GH) was founded in 1915, and has evolved from a single hospital in Danville, PA, into a fully integrated health system that serves central, south central and northeast Pennsylvania, spanning across 45 counties, and 7 counties in southern New Jersey and serving approximately 4.2 million residents. Geisinger has a national reputation for quality of health service delivery and has been listed repeatedly as one of the Best Hospitals in America. About one-third of Geisinger patients are also insured by the health system, through Geisinger Health Plan and collaboration between the providers and health plan has been an important component in developing the culture of innovation for which Geisinger is now known.
Thirty-two of the 45 counties in Geisinger’s coverage area are designated as rural. Many of these counties have Medically Underserved Areas, as designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration, a population traditionally underrepresented in research. The Geisinger Clinic service area average household income is 15.3% lower than the US; 13.1% have household income less than $15,000/year.
Geisinger is committed to evolving as a learning health care system, and as such encourages and supports a broad range of research topics throughout our clinical enterprise as well as in our research centers and institutes. The theme of the Research Strategic Plan is Personalized Healthcare Research with an emphasis on developing and testing innovative approaches that will enable us to identify the unique differences between patients - genetic, environmental, or social - so that each patient receives the 'right care at the right time in the right way' to increase quality and improve outcomes.
The Geisinger MyCode Community Health Initiative was launched in 2007 and includes a system-wide biobank that incudes broad consent for DNA research including return of results. Over 200,000 participants have consented into MyCode. The robust clinical and informatics infrastructure of this precision health program, along with review of metrics, and input from advisory committees allows for identification of opportunities for process improvements – which can then be developed and implemented.
Geisinger has sponsored multiple DSSF Fellows and has a robust mentoring program for fellows and faculty. Fellows will have a lead faculty mentor and the opportunity to join or link with new and ongoing projects. Various projects in precision health and implementation are ongoing. Fellows with expertise or interest in implementation science, communication, decision making, genomic medicine, and behavioral science are particularly encouraged to apply.
Geisinger is a 2022 AcademyHealth Delivery System Science Fellowship host site. Find out more about the fellowship here.