Summer Internships: Geisinger Health System


By Larissa Luckel 

It’s hard to believe there are only two weeks of summer left until school starts!  Unfortunately, this means there is even less time left at my internship.  This summer, I have been interning at Geisinger Health System in northeast Pennsylvania.  Founded in 1915, Geisinger Health System is the nation’s largest rural health care system and has recently gained national recognition for its ability to provide high-quality care at costs below average. 

Myself and John Heineman, fellow Iowa MHA/MPH student
It is a very exciting time to be with Geisinger and I am trying to soak in every bit of knowledge that I can.  I have learned a lot about their innovative care delivery models, such as ProvenCare (the “warranty”) and ProvenHealth Navigator, and have been involved in many meetings about upcoming projects with CMMI (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation) and PCORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute). 

 Geisinger has recently merged with several community hospitals in the northeast PA region and a lot of my work has focused around projects in these hospitals.  On July 1st, Bloomsburg Health System (now officially named Geisinger-Bloomsburg Health System, or G-BH) was welcomed into the Geisinger family.  During June and July, I spent quite a bit of time in transition team meetings and steering committee meetings, as we prepared for G-BH to come onboard.  Being involved in the merger process has been a great experience, as I have been exposed to various elements of strategic planning, business development and programming, legal restrictions and considerations, human resource needs, information technology implementation, etc. Recently, I have also begun work to develop an operating plan with metrics for Geisinger Northeast, and have been assisting in the planning and implementation of an Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at another newly-acquired hospital, Geisinger-Community Medical Center in Scranton, PA.

From a personal standpoint, I have been exploring Wilkes-Barre and the northeast PA region with the second-year fellow, Alexis Kolpakas (an Iowa MHA/MPH grad) and the first-year fellow, Andrea Fenner-Koepp.  I have found some really great wineries around this area and a large farmers’ market that takes place in the town square on Thursdays.  A couple of weekends ago, I went to Philadelphia for a Phillies/Braves game and stopped by Pat’s King of Steaks afterward for a Philly cheesesteak sandwich.   There are also some really nice hiking trails not far from where I live and it has been nice to get out and explore those on the weekends as well. 


Andrea Fenner-Koepp, the first-year fellow; myself; Alexis Kolpakas, '10 Iowa MHA/MPH graduate and second-year fellow; and the previous fellow, Jessica Havern.

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