Chestnut Hill Hospital Aims to Grow Locally

Chestnut Hill Hospital is not messing around in trying to promote itself.

The area hospital has an extensive ad campaign lined up, including the continued publication of its two magazines. There are adds on SEPTA buses and at stops promoting the hospital's services. According to Dr. John D. Cacciamani, the hospital's semi-new CEO, over 50,000 households will receive materials from the hospital three times in 2013.

For all it's efforts to grow, however, Cacciamani says that the hospital's main area of interest is a place near by: Mt. Airy.

"We've made a lot of progress, but we want to grow here," he said. "This community is our priority and we want to provide the best care that we can."

In a joint meeting of the East and West Mt. Airy Neighbors on Jan 15, Dr. Cacciamani presented the hospital to a group of Mt. Aire residents, promoting its recent successes.

"The hospital went through a lot of financial and clinical difficulties, but we've made great progress in the past few years," he said. "When you compare us to the rest of the region, we're doing a good job. Our clinical score is in the top 4 percent for the country in the last two years."

Dr. Cacciamani also stressed patient safety as "a big priority" for the hospital.

"We score between an A and a B on the patient safety scale year to year," he said. "We were the best in the city last year, and now we have morning patient safety meeting so we can avoid mistakes and learn from them if they occur."

Dr. Cacciamani said that, while he wants the hospital to grow and expand, he would like it to improve its local care most.

"Our strategy is to continue to grow right here in our back yard," he said. "Mt. Airy is it. We don't have to go far."