Chestnut Hill Hospital ‘reopens’ with new Temple Health leadership and ownership

This week, Chestnut Hill Hospital officially joined the Temple University Health System as its newest location serving Northwest Philadelphia.

The community hospital gained new management Jan. 1 under a partnership of health organizations, led by Temple.

The transfer of leadership comes after Tower Health sold the 148-bed facility to Temple, Redeemer Health, and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in a $28 million deal finalized this winter.

The sale cleared the hospital’s multi-million-dollar debt under Tower Health, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“We needed power in the marketplace, as many small hospitals are struggling across the board,” said Dr. John Cacciamani, president and CEO of the rebranded Temple Health – Chestnut Hill Hospital.

Cacciamani also served as president and CEO of the hospital under Tower Health.

“What we needed was a big medical school, large purchasing power, great relationships with the [insurance] payers — whether you want to call that great, but powerful relationships with those payers — and an infrastructure where we could grow,” he said.

Temple Health owns 60% of the teaching hospital and will serve as main management.

Chestnut Hill Hospital joins Temple University Health System’s four other hospitals across Philadelphia.

Michael Young, the health system’s president and CEO, said the new Chestnut Hill location will expand Temple’s physician and provider network, and give some Temple patients a more accessible option for services.

“They don’t have to drive downtown,” Young said. “They can get those services here.”

Young said Temple plans to recruit and add the “best” medical residents, teaching staff, and new health care services in Chestnut Hill.

The hospital does not yet include Fox Chase Cancer Center services, but Temple officials said they hope to expand infusion and radiation oncology services at the site in the future.

Dr. David Kuo, associate dean of Graduate Medical Education at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, said the partnership at Chestnut Hill could lead to more medication education opportunities and a new talent recruitment pipeline.

“We’re hopeful that more of our [medical] residents will then have a great experience here and then maybe join the staff here,” Kuo said.