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Description

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About Susquehanna Health
Susquehanna Health was formed in 1994 by the affiliation of the three Lycoming County hospitalsWilliamsport Regional Medical Center Divine Providence Hospital and Muncy Valley Hospital Today it has a total of 228 licensed acute beds and 22 bassinets and 138 longterm care beds in the Skilled Nursing Unit The organization admits more than 13000 patients annually and performs more than 7500 outpatient surgeries at the Outpatient Center of Excellence and more than 4400 inpatient surgeries each year

Susquehanna Health is located in rural northcentral Pennsylvania and is the regions largest employer with more than 3000 employees Divine Providence Hospital the organizations Center of Excellence for Outpatient Services and Williamsport Regional Medical Center are centered in Williamsport the county seat Muncy Valley Hospital located in Muncy is positioned to serve the eastern portion of the county

Our Mission
To extend Gods healing love by improving the health of those we serve

Our Vision
To create a high quality patient centered integrated delivery system

Our Values
To demonstrate extraordinary CARE for those who receive our services share ownership with those who provide our services and be servant leaders whose behaviors are rooted in quality service dedicated partnership responsible stewardship and commitment to our regional community

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History

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History Of Susquehanna Health
In July 1994 an alliance was formed among three area hospitals signaling the beginning of a new era in healthcare for the region This alliance Susquehanna Health SH brings together The Williamsport Hospital amp Medical Center Divine Providence Hospital and Muncy Valley Hospital along with all their subsidiaries into one fully integrated healthcare system that provides high quality compassionate accessible and cost effective healthcare to thousands of residents in the region and has received national recognition for its healthcare leadership

Located in central Pennsylvania Susquehanna Health is made up of the three hospitals with a total of 454 licensed acute and 139 long term care beds along with a skilled nursing unit home care division physician services and ambulance service Its Emergency departments have a total of some 54000 visits each year and its Birthplace welcomes 1300 babies annually And while Susquehanna Health is relatively young the hospitals that form the foundation of the healthcare system are very much a part of the areas rich history and have a long standing tradition of providing care to generations of area families

A Growing Area Has Need Of a Place to Care For Its Sick and Injured

In the early 1800s Williamsport was a tiny borough along the Susquehanna River surrounded by vast tracts of rich pine hemlock and hardwoods that were quickly becoming in great demand to help feed the young nations need for lumber As sawmills began to spring up along the river more and more workers came to the area looking to make a living in the new lumber industry By the 1870s Williamsport had become the lumber capital of the world The population had grown dramatically and with this growth came an increased incidence of sickness and injury The sick were cared for in their homes by family members and workers who were injured on the job were often treated in the boardinghouse rooms where they lived Following several industrial accidents that occurred in the early 1870s members of the Lycoming County Medical Society decided there was need for a hospital where patients could be fed and cared for in a clean environment

The Williamsport Hospital Incorporated

In 1873 upon petition by members of the Lycoming County Medical Society and 23 leading citizens of the community the Lycoming County Court granted a Charter establishing The Williamsport Hospital Despite the initial enthusiasm among community leaders for the facility interest quickly cooled when these people were asked for money to purchase a building and beds Eventually James H Perkins a lumberman and former mayor contributed half of the initial expense and a threestory brick building on Elmira Street between Fourth and Edwin Streets was purchased The first hospital in Williamsport opened its doors around April 1 1878

This hospital was in reality not much more than a clean boardinghouse intended for charity patients who had no suitable residence in Williamsport A husband and wife fed and bathed patients in return for free living quarters Physicians preferred to treat patients in their homes recognizing there was a greater likelihood of being paid by those patients During the first year of operation the 20 or so physicians in the community admitted only nine patients to the hospital and only four in the second year

Medical professionals recognized that in order to be successful the hospital needed to be guided by someone with medical training Dr Jean Saylor who had been active with the Hospital convinced Dr Rita B Church a former college classmate to come to Williamsort and run the fledgling hospital With Dr Church on the premises Hospital use increased dramatically and this in turn created a shortage of nurses The two doctors organized a training course for the teaching of student nurses establishing one of the first nursing schools in the state The first student Alta J King graduated in 1884 and for over 100 years The Williamsport Hospital School of Nursing continued to provide the region with highly skilled nurses

That same year the Hospital began looking for a larger building A house on Pine Street near Fifth Avenue was purchased Although this facility was larger it had its drawbacks A nearby railroad created a lot of noise that was distracting to ill patients and when the flood of 1889 filled the building with three feet of muddy water the board of managers was finally convinced that it was time to find a more appropriate location Eventually a large tract of land called Old Oaks Park in the vicinity of Louisa and Campbell Streets and Rural Avenue was being opened for development and the board of managers purchased an entire city block and built a new facility that was opened in 1891 Over 100 years later the main building of the Hospital is still located on this site and is today The Williamsport Hospital campus of Susquehanna Health System

Muncy Valley Hospital Founded

As the city of Williamsport was growing so too were the surrounding areas From this growth came the need for a medical facility to serve the growing population in the eastern end of Lycoming County Bad roads and long distances made traveling to The Williamsport Hospital amp Medical Center almost impossible Recognizing the need for the community to have its own hospital facility twelve physicians from the Muncy Hughesville and Montgomery areas worked together to establish a hospital in Muncy

This small 18bed facility opened in 1922 in a Victorian residence in what was originally the Noble family mansion on East Water Street with Dr T Kenneth Wood a prime mover for the founding of the hospital as its president The facility cost 10000 and with its opening local residents felt they had created the ultimate in medical care

Over the next two decades the hospital was entirely directed by a board composed of physicians To help bring a new dimension of healthcare thinking to the facility in 1940 lay members of the community were admitted to the hospital board In fact it is believed that the leadership of two of these men Earl D Buck and W Charles Walters guided the campaign organization administrative leadership and manpower and construction plans that were needed to meet the increasing demands being placed on the young hospital In 1945 the hospital board agreed to undertake a new building program Spurred by a 550000 pledge and a second campaign the hospital began the construction of what is today the Muncy Valley Hospital

In February of 1991 Muncy Valley Hospital was purchased by Divine Providence Hospital and from that time has shared a Catholic Faithbased mission with Divine Providence

Religious Order Establishes A Catholic Hospital

Around that time a suburban exodus was beginning in the city of Williamsport As the population began moving to the outlying areas particularly the eastern end of the city the seeds of a new hospital were being sown by a religious order Sister Mary Theresilla Hills a native of Williamsport and a Sister in the order of the Sisters of Christian Charity who was in the city on a teaching assignment reported to her motherhouse the need to quotprovide a place where the sick and injured could be treated in accordance with the mercy and compassion of Christ coupled with the best principles of medical practicequot

Two campaigns were conducted to build this Catholic Hospital one in 1945 46 and the other in 1948 49 A tremendous support on the part of community and business members oversubscribed both goals and on June 27 1948 ground was broken at 1100 Grampian Boulevard on the border of the city of Williamsport and Loyalsock Township The new 185bed facility was dedicated on May 20 1951 It opened its doors on June 1 1951 under the direction of Sister Emilene Wehner SCC and is today the Divine Providence Hospital campus of Susquehanna Health System

The Years Of Growth

Over the ensuing years the three hospitals continued to thrive adding new services and advanced technology to insure area residents had the best possible medical care

At The Williamsport Hospital the rehabilitation and physical medicine center was established in 1961 The tremendous success of the center led to the current five story Rehabilitation Services which opened in 1970 During the 1960s the hospital created a mental health unit and initiated the first intensive care unit in Central Pennsylvania In medicine advances were being made in treatment of heart patients and in the early 1970s the Hospital established a Cardiopulmonary Department that is the foundation for the Systems cardiac surgery program today As more and more physicians began to specialize in various areas of medicine this created a shortage of family practitioners To train a new generation of skilled family practice physicians The Williamsport Hospital in 1972 established the Family Practice Residency Program and became the first hospital in the northern half of the state to organize such a program The Family Practice Residency Program continues to provide skilled family practitioners many who locate in the region and provide medical support to rural communities

At Muncy Valley Hospital the professional staff of the hospital increased to 14 physicians In addition there was a consulting staff of various specialties including surgery internal medicine genitourinary eye plastic surgery xray obstetrics pediatrics orthopedics ear nose throat and dental needs In 1953 realizing the need for a nursing unit to care for geriatric patients the Noble mansion that housed the original hospital was renovated and opened as a Geriatric Unit An east wing was added to the hospital in 1957 and in 1968 the second floor of the east wing was completed A new geriatric ward was established with money from a 45000 grant from the county commissioners the beginning of what is the present comprehensive and modern Skilled Nursing Unit Through Susquehanna Health System this facility has been renovated and expanded to 139 beds and today and continues to provide area residents skilled nursing care in their own community

At Divine Providence Hospital construction began in 1958 on the first expansion of facilities this project included a medical library chapel convent auditorium and administrative offices The laboratory radiology and dietary departments expanded and bed capacity increased A psychiatric inpatient unit opened in the early 1960s the first step toward the future comprehensive mental health program that Divine Providence Hospital would establish The 1960s also saw the opening of an intensive care unit and the renovation of the obstetric unit To keep up with expanding community needs the Hospital also began construction of a Health Services building to house physicians offices an outpatient pharmacy and community health services Several regional services also began in the 1970s including the Francis V Costello Dialysis Center and the Cancer Treatment Center and a Digestive Disease Center in 1976 In 1981 Divine Providence Hospital along with several other hospitals formed a nonprofit corporation to provide mobile Computerized Tomography scanning services to 10 hospitals in north central Pennsylvania This was the first such service in this area and the largest nonprofit scanning corporation in the nation

A Spirit of Cooperation

Over the next decades the hospitals enjoyed a spirit of cooperation often lending each other equipment and sharing technology A note in The Williamsport Hospitals employee newsletter dated March 1951 congratulated the Muncy Valley Hospital on the opening of its new addition and expressed the hope that quotthe Hospitals of Lycoming County will enjoy full cooperation with one another in their joint effort to provide good hospital carea unity of purpose among hospitals is essential to the voluntary hospital systemquot

Our Alliance

The 1990s brought a period of major change to healthcare Many smaller hospitals looked to associate with larger hospitals to strengthen their chances of survival In 1991 Muncy Valley Hospital entered into a partnership with Divine Providence Hospital Then over the next few years administrators from the three hospital began a series of discussions that would eventually lead to the creation of Susquehanna Health System The architects of this alliance Sister Jean Mohl president of Providence Foundation Divine Providence Hospital and Donald R Creamer president of The Williamsport Hospital were committed to creating a seamless highly integrated health system that would eliminate costly duplication of services and enhance the quality of care through the consolidation of these services The System became a reality in July 1994 and over the past years has not only received national recognition for its creation but has served as a prototype for other healtcare alliances Susquehanna Health is directed by an 18 member board comprised of an equal number of representatives selected by the corporate parents of each participating hospital system volunteer board members who live and work in the region they serve

For the community the most visible aspect of SHS is the consolidation of services SHS began by consolidating specialized services creating Centers of Excellence for Rehabilitation Heart Obstetrics Cancer Behavioral Health and Skilled Nursing on the Hospital campus which had already established itself as a Center of Excellence for that particular service Over the next years other departments including the Laboratory Home Care and Pharmacy were consolidated so that by mid 1997 nearly every major department in the System was consolidated

At the end of 1997 the two city Emergency departments located less than three miles apart were consolidated to create a Center of Excellence for Emergency Services at The Williamsport Hospital The consolidation of the two city Emergency departments at The Williamsport Hospital allows the System to center the city Emergency Services in one location and align them with other critical care services that are already on that campus At the same time a Community Health Center was established in the former Emergency department at Divine Providence Hospital to meet the increasing need for improved access to medical care for thousands of area residents particularly those who do not have a primary care doctor

In 1998 Susquehanna Health along with other healthcare systems and hospitals throughout the country faced a new challenge how to respond to the continuing decrease in demand for inpatient services and the increasing need for outpatient services The decision was made to create a Center for Inpatient Services at The Williamsport Hospital the hospital with the highest number of licensed beds and a Center for Outpatient Services including Same Day Surgery at Divine Providence Hospital the hospital more centrally located with the easiest access and most convenient parking This move enables SHS to continue to serve our patients with high quality care while at the same time helps further reduce the cost of healthcare delivery Muncy Valley Hospital located over 15 miles away at the far eastern end of Lycoming County remains a full service hospital with 24 hour Emergency Services

Over the coming years we will continue adapting to the changing needs of healthcare caring for the sick and injured but also channeling increased efforts in the areas of wellness disease prevention and early detection Susquehanna Health healthcare workers educators staff and volunteers working in cooperation with community agencies and social service organizations are out in the cities and suburbs the schools and churches senior centers libraries and even the mall providing programs and services designed to promote wellness in our effort to make the community we serve the healthiest community in the United States