Today, Millcreek Health System, a health care and educational delivery system with more than a half-century of commitment to care, compassion and community, becomes LECOM Health.
From its very definition to just who is responsible for paying for it; from nuanced care options to basic needs; from medical education to cutting-edge innovation, “health care” has spent the last few years squarely at the top of the list of key issues affecting every American.
For decades now, Millcreek Health System has reinforced a powerful and purposed health care mission. The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine has been solidly at the epicenter of that mission, championing the vision of healthful living, and advancing the educational and medical core of a growing and ever-expanding network of medical exceptionalism. The Millcreek Health System has been the seminal delivery system for health care in the western Pennsylvania region and LECOM has been its educational stalwart.
“For all of us at LECOM “healthcare,” and all that it engenders, has been at the apex of our mission since the inception of our institution,” said LECOM President and CEO John M. Ferretti, DO. “It has formed the genesis of our existence and it has guided our very vision. It has steered our strategic planning and it has honed rigorously our paradigm of superlative medical education.”
The College has taken to heart the concept that the community is our campus. To promote fitness and wellness for the betterment of our community, LECOM opened the John M. and Silvia Ferretti Medical Fitness and Wellness Center. To answer the need for better oral health care, the College has opened the LECOM Dental Offices on West Grandview Boulevard. With Erie County’s senior population now approaching one-out-of-four residents, LECOM is adding another component to its health care programs for older adults with the acquisition of three residential communities, the adoption of LifeWorks Erie and construction of the Senior Living Center.
Healthful living does not happen by itself or overnight; it requires work every day.
LECOM Health will coordinate with the full complement of our academic health system – with hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, health plans, governments, and employers – to improve the countless lives that we touch.
Transitioning to a value-based health system is disruptive to traditional health care models. While the objectives of value-based care are clear, the road to achieving it is uncertain.
“LECOM Health now encompasses the full breadth of provider organizations to navigate that journey, imbued with powerful insight, cutting edge expertise, and solutions that convert health education into health care intelligence,” said Dr. Ferretti. “Whether enabling treatment protocols, empowering collaborative care, or providing new services – such as the Center for the Aging, the Advanced Wound Care Center, the Transitional Care Unit, or the Rehab Center, LECOM has become the recognized name in health care.”
“The pursuit of health care begins from the moment that we take our first breath; yet health and wellness does not happen in a vacuum. From the smallest detail to the boldest goals for healthful living, LECOM Health believes that a single life can be made better by many others.”
Today, achieving health and wellness requires a leader who can power modern health care by linking technology with expertise, by melding education with advancement – to welcome patients by conveying a feeling of care, hope and acceptance to people at every level of physical, emotional, and even financial health. LECOM Health will place the emphasis on wellness and identifying LECOM Health Staff at every center that carries the LECOM Health name, as people concerned with patients’ overall lives and with wellness as a whole way of life.