Tower Health announced today that Charles F Barbera, MD, MBA, MPH, FACEP, has been named Senior Vice President and Associate Chief Medical Officer (effective January 18), and John Derderian DO, FHM, has been named Vice President, Inpatient Medicine and Transition of Care Services (effective February 1).
Dr. Barbera will continue to serve as the physician administrative leader for Prehospital & Unscheduled Care, including providing clinical strategic direction and oversight for a diverse range of services, including: TeleHealth, Urgent Care, Tower Direct, and the Emergency Medicine Service Line. In addition, he will provide administrative oversight for Infection Prevention and Epidemiology across the health system, with concentration on engagement of physicians and advanced practice providers in collaboration with nursing to reduce variation in care, while improving clinical outcomes.
Dr. Barbera will also provide the leadership and direction for all Employee Health Services for Tower Health, focusing on maintaining the health and safety of the workforce while enhancing the coordination of services and data reporting to inform clinical programs. As Associate Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Barbera will support Suzanne Wenderoth, MD, Tower Health’s Interim Chief Medical Officer, with Physician and Advanced Practice Providers endeavors and on monitoring and improving performance in quality metrics in the areas of: ED Left Without Treatment, Length of Stay, and Hospital Associated Infections.
In this new role, Dr. Derderian will continue to serve as the physician leader for Hospitalist Services across the health system. He will also serve as the physician leader providing direction and oversight to clinical programs related to inpatient Care Pathways, focusing on engaging physicians and advanced practice providers and nursing in reducing variation in care, while improving efficient utilization of healthcare resources across Tower Health’s acute care facilities.
He will collaborate with the Chief Medical and Nursing Officers, Clinical Documentation Improvement team, Physician Advisors, and Utilization Management to ensure physician and advanced practice provider documentation integrity supports the delivery of high-quality care and efficient utilization of healthcare services. Dr. Derderian will also oversee advances in Transitions of Care for patients recently discharged from a Tower Heath acute care facility who do not have a primary care provider or timely access to a provider. He will collaborate with the Tower Health Population Health and Care Management teams to ensure that timely, safe, discharge, and follow-up processes are in place and effective. The focus will be on monitoring and improving performance in quality metrics in Length of Stay, Hospital Readmissions, and Transitions of Care.
About Tower Health
Tower Health is a regional integrated healthcare system that offers leading-edge, compassionate healthcare and wellness services to communities in Berks, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties. With nearly 12,000 team members, Tower Health consists of Reading Hospital in West Reading; Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia; Phoenixville Hospital in Phoenixville; Pottstown Hospital in Pottstown; and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, a partnership of Tower Health and Drexel University in Philadelphia. It also includes Reading Hospital Rehabilitation at Wyomissing; Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences in West Reading; home healthcare provided by Tower Health at Home; TowerDirect ambulance and emergency response; Tower Health Medical Group; and a network of 25 urgent care facilities across the Tower Health service area. For more information, visit towerhealth.org.