Kenya RPCV Gavin R. Kerr to the position of executive vice president and chief operating officer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia



Kenya RPCV Gavin R. Kerr to the position of executive vice president and chief operating officer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Appoints New Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Following an extensive national search, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has appointed Gavin R. Kerr to the position of executive vice president and chief operating officer, effective January 1, 2005.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Kerr served as president and chief executive officer of Mercy Health System based in Philadelphia and southeastern Pennsylvania and as senior vice president of Catholic Health East. He also served as chairman of the board of directors for Keystone Mercy Health Plan, one of the nation's largest Medicaid managed-care plans. Prior to his role at Mercy, Mr. Kerr served for five years as vice president for Planning and Organizational Effectiveness at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

"I am pleased to welcome Gavin and consider him an ideal partner to help shape the future of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia," says Steven M. Altschuler, M.D., president and chief executive officer of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Gavin brings rich leadership experience and a strong commitment to providing excellent patient care, fostering a teamwork- focused environment for employees and developing systems to improve organizational efficiency."

Mr. Kerr holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Colgate University and a Master of Divinity in Counseling from Princeton University. He served for a year in the United States Peace Corps as a marketing advisor in Kenya and currently serves as chairman of the Urban Health Care Coalition in Philadelphia.

In his new role, Mr. Kerr succeeds Jeffrey A. Rivest, a 16-year veteran of Children's Hospital who was recently named president and chief executive officer of the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is ranked the best pediatric hospital in the nation by U.S.News & World Report in 2004 and Child magazine in 2003. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking second in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 430-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents from before birth through age 19. Children's Hospital operates the largest pediatric healthcare system in the U.S. nearly 50 locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

CONTACT: Gina Marchiondo, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, +1-267-426-6054, Marchiondo@email.chop.edu.

Quelle: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

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