Geisinger President and CEO to reveal new community health initiative at StartUp Health Festival

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

DANVILLE, PA -- David T. Feinberg, M.D., MBA, president and CEO of Geisinger, will reveal a new community initiative, Springboard Health, at this year’s StartUp Health Festival in San Francisco.

Dr. Feinberg will participate on one of the Festival’s exclusive fireside chats, Rise of Healthcare’s Emerging Innovation Hubs, on Jan. 10 at the StartUp Health Café, 180 Montgomery Street. He will be joining Richard Zane, M.D., Chief Innovation Officer at UCHealth, and Esther Dyson, philanthropist, angel investor and executive founder of Way to Wellville, who also serves on the advisory council of Springboard Health.

In introducing Springboard Health, Dr. Feinberg will share the concept, components and planned execution of Geisinger’s newest population health initiative which intends to take a radical approach in transforming the health of an entire community. The program, kicking off in Scranton, Pa., will launch with Springboard Healthy Scranton and will focus on coordinating and collaborating with local stakeholders not only to manage and alleviate chronic medical conditions and eliminate preventable cancers, but to address the socioeconomic health of the community.  

Scranton, like so many post-industrial American communities, has a population that struggles with diabetes, obesity and behavioral health issues. Economic obstacles include lack of industry and sustainable living wages compounded by food insecurity issues, especially in those neighborhoods lacking the availability of fresh, non-processed foods. Unhealthy behaviors cited in the community include higher-than-average rates of smoking, drinking and drug addiction.

“When it comes to the social determinants of health, we know there are many more causes impacting the health of a population than access to quality medical care,” said Dr. Feinberg. “We want to transform healthcare at its core by focusing on preventive care, behavioral health and economic growth.”

Once developed, tested and implemented, Springboard Healthy Scranton projects will be optimized to create cost-effective, sustainable solutions and once proven, these data-driven programs will be replicated nationally and globally.

"We are going to introduce innovative programs and foster robust community collaborations and back it all up with data to make sure Scranton is the healthiest place to be in the country," said Dr. Feinberg. "Once we successfully implement Springboard Healthy Scranton, we'll take the program on the road to communities with similar socioeconomic health challenges."

In addition to Esther Dyson, active Springboard advisory council members include John Sculley, former CEO at Apple and current chairman and chief marketing officer at RxAdvance, Bob Beitcher, president and CEO of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, and a strategic, formidable assemblage of visionary entrepreneurs and executives from the worlds of healthcare, academia, wellness, technology and human rights organizations.

The annual StartUp Health Festival is the perfect audience to introduce Geisinger’s trailblazing new program, attracting more than 2,000 of the world’s most inspiring entrepreneurs, healthcare leaders, scientists, investors and Health Transformers for a two-day event.

StartUp Health is organizing and supporting a global army of Health Transformers to achieve 10 Health Moonshots with the long-term goal of improving the health and wellbeing of everyone in the world. StartUp Health’s has built the world’s largest digital health portfolio with more than 180 companies spanning five continents, 17 countries and 60+ cities and built a worldwide network of over 30,000 innovators, industry leaders and investors committed to supporting the entrepreneurs reimagining health and wellness. The invite-only Festival unites these individuals to share ideas and work towards reinventing the future of health on a large-scale.

About Geisinger
Geisinger is committed to making better health easier for the more than 1 million people it serves. Founded more than 100 years ago by Abigail Geisinger, the system now includes 10 hospital campuses, a health plan with more than half a million members, a research institute and the Geisinger College of Health Sciences, which includes schools of medicine, nursing and graduate education. With more than 25,000 employees and 1,700+ employed physicians, Geisinger boosts its hometown economies in Pennsylvania by billions of dollars annually. Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.