Good Shepherd begins partnership

Philadelphia, PA - Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a joint venture between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) of Philadelphia, today began offering the most comprehensive continuum of post-acute medical care in eastern Pennsylvania. This partnership puts Good Shepherd Penn Partners (GSPP) in the forefront of scientific advancement for post-acute care thanks to UPHS's research and clinical expertise partnered with Good Shepherd's 100-year tradition of compassionate care and best practices for rehabilitation.
GSPP specializes in inpatient long-term acute care and medical and physical rehabilitation for patients transferred from medical, surgical and intensive care units. At the Penn Medicine at Rittenhouse campus (formerly Graduate Hospital), GSPP operates a new 38-bed long-term acute care hospital called Good Shepherd Specialty Hospital at Rittenhouse. GSPP also manages a new 58-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility called the Penn Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine.
As of July 1, 2008, GSPP also owns and operates the eight Penn Therapy and Fitness outpatient sites, now named GSPP Penn Therapy and Fitness. In addition, GSPP provides the bedside physical rehabilitation at the University of Pennsylvania Health System's (UPHS) acute-care hospitals.
Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network invested $40 million toward renovations at Penn Medicine at Rittenhouse at 1800 Lombard Street in Philadelphia. The funding included the construction of Good Shepherd Specialty Hospital and the Penn Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine, in addition to GSPP's administrative offices.
As a new entity, GSPP created approximately 115 new health-care jobs. Employment is expected to reach 414 full-time staff members when GSPP is fully operational.
The partnership has already resulted in benefits for Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network. A physical medicine and rehabilitation senior residency rotation begins at Good Shepherd's Allentown campus on July 2, 2008. In addition, infectious disease specialist Patrick Brennan, M.D., chief medical officer and senior vice president of UPHS, joined the Good Shepherd Board of Trustees.
"Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network saw the creation of Good Shepherd Penn Partners as a business opportunity that helped fulfill our mission and one of our strategic directions to increase the number of people who are helped by the organization's patient-centered care in a broader geographic region," says Sally Gammon, FACHE, president & CEO, Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, and chair, Board of Trustees, GSPP. "But from the time Good Shepherd Penn Partners was announced in early 2007, we worked on synergies between Good Shepherd and UPHS that go beyond the physical clinical facilities in the Philadelphia area. Good Shepherd Penn Partners taps Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network's patient-focused, quality post-acute care and marries it with Penn Medicine's outstanding physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, research and UPHS's Magnet nursing. Patients throughout the mid-Atlantic region ultimately benefit the most from GSPP, as they receive outstanding post-acute care thanks to the marriage of the strengths of both partners."