July 25, 2005

University of Pennsylvania Health System Appoints Patrick J. Brennan, MD, as Chief Medical Officer

(Philadelphia, PA) – Patrick J. Brennan, MD, has been appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS). Brennan has been the Chief of Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety at the Health System for the last four years, and a faculty member at Penn since 1988. With the significant increase in national attention to the quality and public reporting of patient care and safety outcomes, Brennan, as Chief Medical Officer, will be responsible for monitoring and overseeing the quality of care at all three Health System hospitals – the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center – as well as at the Clinical Practices at the University of Pennsylvania (CPUP), Clinical Care Associates (CCA), and Penn Home Care.

Prior to becoming Chief Medical Officer, Brennan led the Health System's initiatives in patient safety and satisfaction. He also led the Clinical Effectiveness and Quality Improvement (CEQI) department, which is charged with maintaining the highest level of quality patient care while simultaneously reducing both resource waste and the number of unnecessarily long hospital stays. As Chief Medical Officer, Brennan will work with UPHS’s medical, nursing and other professional staff to monitor patient care and systems and advance the Clinical Excellence initiative, which aims to make the Health System’s patient care programs among the best in the nation.

“Dr. Brennan has earned the respect and appreciation of his colleagues in leading UPHS’s highly effective CEQI program, an innovator among academic medical centers, and I am confident that his collaborative and professional nature will shape patient care, the most critical area of the Health System,” remarked Ralph W. Muller, Chief Executive Officer of UPHS. “I look forward to his leadership in assisting our medical and nursing staff to maintain and further advance the Health System’s position at the forefront of patient-centered care.”

After earning his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine, Brennan took his residency in Internal Medicine at Temple University Hospital, where he also served as Chief Resident. He came to Penn in 1986 on a fellowship in Infectious Diseases. Two years later, he joined the Penn faculty as an Assistant Professor of Medicine. In 1990, Brennan became the Hospital Epidemiologist at Penn Medical Center; shortly afterwards, he became associated with the Health System's Home Care Programs as an Associate Medical Director and became the Medical Director of Penn Home Infusion Therapy in 1996. He’s chaired the Infection Control committees at Penn, Presbyterian Medical Center, and the Veterans Administration. Since 1997 Brennan has chaired the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee. He served as the Chair of the Center's Medical Board from 2002 to 2004.

Brennan has been involved in public health efforts to treat tuberculosis and related conditions, dealing actively with both patients and the infection control implications of the disease. In 1997, he was named both Director of the Tuberculosis Control Program of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the Tuberculosis Consultant for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The following year under Brennan's direction, the Tuberculosis Control Program established the Lawrence Flick Clinic for the Treatment of Tuberculosis. He is co-chair of the Healthcare Associated Infection Advisory Panel for the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council. Last year, he was appointed Chairman of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) by Tommy Thompson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Since 2003, Brennan has served on the Committee as one of 14 infectious diseases experts who advise the Centers for Disease Control and the Secretary of HHS regarding infection control in United States health care facilities.

Brennan is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Philadelphia College of Physicians. He is also a fellow of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiologists of America. He has serves on national committees for several professional organizations, including The Training Program Director's Committee and the Tuberculosis Committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

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PENN Medicine is a $2.7 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn’s School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked #4 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

Penn Health System is comprised of: its flagship hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, consistently rated one of the nation’s “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; Presbyterian Medical Center; a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home health care and hospice.

This release is available online at http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jul05/BrennanCMO.htm