Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf to speak at Geisinger Symposium

DANVILLE, Pa. –  Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is joining the speakers’ lineup at Geisinger’s upcoming healthcare symposium. 

Gov. Wolf will address attendees Thursday afternoon during the national event, “From Crisis To Cure: Revitalizing America’s Healthcare System,” which runs Nov. 8 through Nov. 10th on the campus of Geisinger Medical Center.

““It’s a pleasure to be invited to be a part of the continuing national conversation on health care at the symposium,” said Gov. Wolf. “In Pennsylvania, I’ve made it a priority to see that everyone has health care by expanding Medicaid, pursing a bi-partisan fix to the Affordable Care Act, and passing legislation to legalize medical marijuana and expand efforts in the heroin and opioid fight.”

Gov. Wolf will lead a discussion on the national opioid crisis, which he has made a top priority of his administration and has provided funding to implement 45 treatment centers throughout the Commonwealth that included a $1 million grant to Geisinger’s Medication Assisted Therapy clinics. 

Under his leadership, Pennsylvania also recently launched a prescription drug monitoring program to allow prescribers and dispensers to query and report information regarding the number of opioids prescribed to patients and released new prescribing guidelines for the safe and effective use of opioids.

Bruce Greenstein, chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President Trump, will also provide a national healthcare update at the Springboard Healthy Scranton luncheon scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Springboard Healthy Scranton is a newly launched Geisinger initiative that focuses on working with local communities and their stakeholders to alleviate chronic medical conditions, eliminate preventable cancers and other diseases and address the overall socioeconomic health of the community. It is designed to be a replicable program that can be rolled out to other communities locally, nationally and globally.

Although U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville, is unable to attend the conference because the Senate is in session, he will open the Symposium Thursday morning with a video address.  

The Symposium will officially kick off Wednesday evening with an address by Gail Wilensky, Ph.D., healthcare economist and former White House adviser to George H. Bush, who will speak on the current state of healthcare. The invitation-only event will bring together a panel of the nation’s leading healthcare experts on policy, patient experience, wellness and technology.  

“This gathering puts Geisinger on a national stage and gives us an opportunity to showcase what we’re doing,” said David Feinberg, M.D., MBA, Geisinger president and CEO. “The event enables us to have conversations with change-makers in government, health and wellness, clinical research, social science, technology, insurance and business, while also facilitating a critical national discussion on  the future of healthcare in this country. These connections help us recruit clinicians, researchers and students to join Geisinger, and that’s great for our employees, members, patients and communities.”

Top healthcare leaders from every sector are heading to Geisinger’s Danville campus to focus on what’s working and what more can be done to transform healthcare.

“These events typically take place in a major metropolitan area. What makes our event unique is convening all these influencers right here in Danville, where Geisinger started,” said Dr. Feinberg. “I’m proud to have this opportunity to show off the amazing work that everyone at Geisinger does for our patients every day.” 

In addition to Gov. Wolf and Dr. Wilensky, symposium speakers who have all waived speaking fees to attend include former first lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will provide the keynote address.


Additional symposium speakers and their topics include: 

• America’s Healthcare Crisis: Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., former White House healthcare adviser to President Barack Obama and a key architect of the Affordable Care Act. An oncologist and bioethicist, he is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress
  
  
• Transformative Power of Lifestyle Medicine: Dean Ornish, M.D., physician, author, and founder and president of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute
  
  
• Positive Impact of the Private Sector in Healthcare: Howard Dean, M.D., former Vermont governor and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee who ran for the party’s presidential nomination in 2004 
  
  
• Transparency and Patient Experience: Thomas H. Lee, M.D., chief medical officer at Press Ganey, the organization that partners with national health care organizations to improve the safety, quality and experience of patient care
  
  
• Transformative Power of Technology: Judy Faulkner, founder and CEO, Epic, the leading electronic health record software company in the United States

About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the non-profit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 134 care sites - including 10 hospital campuses, and Geisinger Health Plan, with 600,000 members in commercial and government plans. The Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,600 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $14 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country.  Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.