Message to Our Community

Lancaster General Health Board of Trustees

On a global level, 2017 has been a year of tremendous economic, political and technological upheaval. Elected officials in Washington debated the future of the Affordable Care Act. A retail pharmacy announced its intention to purchase a major health insurance company. Penn Medicine’s breakthrough research led to the first FDA approval for gene therapy for cancer. Medical research and new technologies continue to drive changes in how disease is diagnosed and treated.

Locally, however, there is a strong sense of continuity as a result of LG Health’s steadfast commitment to serving the community. Our employees and physicians—just as they have year in and year out—focused on the needs of patients and families throughout the region. How we provide care continuously evolves, but our commitment to improving the health of our community remains at the core of our mission. To accomplish this, we focus relentlessly on quality and safety, and advocate for improvement in health care access and delivery.

With those goals in mind, regardless of the shifting political and economic winds, we continued to refine the ways in which we work with our colleagues throughout Penn Medicine to bring clinical services to Lancaster, and to help members of the Lancaster community conveniently access services in Philadelphia when necessary. Research opportunities have expanded, and we made significant progress in connecting our electronic medical records to ease information sharing about patients regardless of where they are cared for in the Penn Medicine system.

This year also saw major progress in addressing the Lancaster community’s need for expanded and improved behavioral health services. We broke ground on our new, free-standing behavioral health hospital that will triple our number of inpatient beds and expand outpatient services. This summer, the new facility will offer dedicated units for adolescents, sexual assault victims and women recovering from domestic violence. This represents a major expansion of services to meet crucial community needs.

Another constant for LG Health: our focus on community health and developing programs that help people protect and enhance their well-being. Our community health outreach targets priority health concerns such as obesity, mental health and substance abuse. In this important work, we have developed or expanded valuable partnerships with other community organizations, recognizing that enhancing the health and well-being of Lancaster County requires all of us working together.

This constancy of purpose and mission provides us with a great sense of accomplishment and a positive outlook for the future. Even as the world of health care constantly changes, our 125 years of commitment to care for one another and our community remains constant.