Administrative Leadership
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James Bennett
Chief Operating Officer, Penn State Health St. JosephJames Bennett is vice president and chief operating officer for Penn State Health St. Joseph. In this role, he works with surgical services and medical staff leadership on physician recruitment, case volume growth and surgical process improvement.
Prior to joining St. Joseph, Bennett worked for United Surgical Partners International, Addison, Texas. He joined the organization in 2014 as administrator of Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center, an ambulatory surgery center jointly operated with Penn State Health at 15 Hope Drive, Hershey. In 2017, he became CEO of the Surgical Institute of Reading, Wyomissing, Pa., where he was responsible for more than 200 staff members and the operations of a surgical hospital, an ambulatory surgery center and three outpatient physical therapy centers. While under Bennett’s leadership, the Surgical Institute of Reading received the Distinguished Guardian of Excellence Award for exceptional patient experience, was recognized by Healthgrades as a Top 100 Hospital for Total Joint Replacements and Safety and earned a five-star quality rating from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Bennett began his career in health care in 1994 as a nurse, eventually joining Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in 2003 as a staff nurse in the surgical intensive care unit. Two years later, he became clinical head nurse of the post-anesthesia care unit and, from 2007 until 2014, he was nurse manager of a 44-bed postoperative surgical floor and a 14-member nursing vascular access team
Bennett serves as a member of the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance. He earned both a master’s degree in health care administration and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Penn State. He is currently completing the requirements to become a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
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Joseph J. Frank
Interim President, Penn State Health St. JosephJoseph Frank is interim president for Penn State Health St. Joseph, where he leads the medical center in its mission to deliver leading-edge patient care.
Prior to joining Penn State Health’s senior management team in 2018, Frank held a variety of leadership roles in entrepreneurial health care ventures. He also was CEO of The Heart Group, a Lancaster cardiology practice that was acquired by Lancaster General Health, and CEO of Valley Forge Dental, where he developed and operated 90 multispecialty dental practices in nine states.
As senior vice president for Surgical Care Affiliates, Frank oversaw the company’s growth from a single surgery center in Lancaster to 79 facilities in 39 states.
Frank earned a master’s degree in public health from the University of Pittsburgh. In addition, he holds a master’s degree from West Virginia University and a bachelor’s degree from Shippensburg University.
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Christopher Fallon, CPA
Interim Chief Financial Officer, Penn State Health St. JosephChristopher Fallon is the interim chief financial officer at Penn State Health St. Joseph. In this role, he oversees and coordinates the finance team, while leveraging shared services to support St. Joseph and the St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation. He also supports leadership in advancing the financial components of existing and new clinical services.
Prior to joining St. Joseph in 2020, Fallon spent eight years performing interim management engagements and consulting services, where he provided financial leadership to hospitals and health systems on a temporary basis. Most recently, he served as interim chief financial officer for Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital in Lebanon, N.H., a subsidiary of Dartmouth Hitchcock. He has supported major hospitals and health care consulting firms, such as Kohler Healthcare Consulting Inc., Baltimore; Kaiser Permanente — Mid-Atlantic States; Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Mass.; Yuma Regional Medical Center, Yuma, Ariz.; Women & Infants Hospital, Providence, R.I.; Saint Michael Medical Center, Newark, N.J.; and St. Francis Hospital, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. His earlier experience included serving as corporate controller at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Md.
A certified public accountant, Fallon is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He graduated from La Salle University, Philadelphia, with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
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Mary Hahn
Vice President, Ambulatory Services and Business Development, Penn State Health St. JosephMary Hahn is vice president of ambulatory services and business development at Penn State Health St. Joseph. She currently has operational responsibilities for imaging, laboratory, rehabilitation and sports medicine, urgent care, work care, home medical equipment and facilities management. Hahn also has strategic oversite of the Penn State Health St. Joseph ― Downtown Campus, including healthy community initiatives, the St. Joseph Medical Office Building on the Bern Township campus and numerous satellite locations throughout Berks County.
Hahn has more than 30 years’ experience in health care, working in Detroit, Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio, and McLean, Va.
She serves on the board of directors of Penn State Health Care Partners and Community Music School Lehigh Valley & Berks, where she also chairs the strategic planning committee. Hahn is a past board member of Hospital Central Services Inc. and Miller-Keystone Blood Center. She was a founding and past board member of Berks Community Health Center.
Hahn earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y., and a master’s degree in health administration from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
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Jeffrey Held, MD
Vice President of Medical Affairs, Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical CenterDr. Jeffrey Held is vice president for medical affairs for Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. As the leader of its 400-plus-member medical staff, his focus is on delivering medical and surgical care that achieves quality patient outcomes. He also serves as the medical staff’s liaison to all clinical units and its representative with hospital and system administrative leadership and board governance.
Before joining St. Joseph in December 2019, Held served BayCare Health System, Clearwater, Fla., as the chief medical officer of ambulatory services, where he led the clinical quality for the home health agency, outpatient radiology, outpatient laboratory services, urgent care and BayCare’s direct to consumer telehealth.
Before taking on an administrative role, Dr. Held practiced as a primary care physician and hospitalist. In addition, he previously served as a physician informaticist, as interim chief medical information officer and as a vice president of physician services. He implemented an electronic health records system and has led initiatives to improve the quality of care by developing written standards to identify and treat specific diseases.
Held earned a bachelor‘s degree in anthropology from American University, Washington, D.C. He completed his medical degree at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, where he received honors for special achievement in community service. He completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. He is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.
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Michael Jupina
Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Penn State Health St. JosephMichael Jupina is the vice president of marketing and communications for Penn State Health St. Joseph. He is responsible for advertising, marketing, key stakeholder communications, as well as public, community and government relations and crisis communications. He also oversees operations for security, transportation, call center and physician outreach and has led the organization’s foundation during transitional periods.
Jupina’s marketing and communications experience spans multiple industries, including health care, finance and banking, technology and new media. Prior to joining St. Joseph in 1999, he directed new business development activities for Tierney, an advertising and public relations firm in Philadelphia. He also served as director of communications and chief spokesperson for a publicly held bank and financial services firm. He has worked with two new media startups where he counseled advertising agencies on integrating emerging technologies into their marketing strategies.
In addition to serving on the Berks County Advisory Board of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Jupina is an elected member of the Exeter Township School Board. Currently, he chairs the board’s athletics committee and is a member of the personnel committee.
Jupina earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg, Pa., and an MBA in marketing and finance from Alvernia University, Reading, Pa.
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Scott Mengle
Vice President of Human Resources, Penn State Health St. JosephScott Mengle has been vice president of human resources for Penn State Health St. Joseph since 2000. He has oversight for human resources, in addition to various other support departments. These have included employee health, environmental services, food and nutrition services, security and transportation services, child day care and adult day care programs.
Prior to joining St. Joseph, he held a similar position with Catholic Health, Buffalo, N.Y., a multiemployer health system with 8,500 employees. Before its acquisition by Catholic Health, he also served Sisters of Charity Hospital, Buffalo, N.Y., as vice president of human resource operations.
Mengle serves on the Berks County Workforce Development board of directors and is both a board member and board secretary of Hospital Central Services. He is a member of the American Society of Health Care Human Resource Administration and the Society for Human Resource Management.
He earned both a bachelor’s degree in human resources and an MBA in human resources and health care management at State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.
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Mary “Missy” Orlando, MBA
Senior Director of Development, Penn State Health St. Joseph and St. Joseph Medical Center FoundationMary “Missy” Orlando is Penn State Health St. Joseph senior director of development for the St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation. In this role, she is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive fundraising and donor relations program that includes an immediate and long-term cultivation, solicitation and stewardship plan for benefactors. She leads the current foundation staff in achieving key goals with the assistance of the foundation board.
Orlando has a long history of executive leadership in which she has fostered results-driven business development, strategic planning and team-building talents that have driven organizational results. Prior to joining St. Joseph in 2019, she owned and operated Strategy12 Consulting, where she worked exclusively with both for-profit and non-profit health care clients helping them with all facets of strategy development, branding, marketing and philanthropy.
She also served as executive vice president, chief marketing and sales officer for Caron Treatment Centers in Wernersville, Pa., and was responsible for national business development and key marketing and public relations functions. Chief among her accomplishments during her eight-year tenure was building the business development infrastructure that resulted in revenue growth of $60 million.
A PhD candidate at Alvernia University in Reading, Pa., Orlando holds an MBA from LaSalle University, Philadelphia, and a bachelor’s degree in business marketing administration from Penn State.
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Sharon Strohecker, DNP, NE-BC
Vice President, Clinical Services, and Chief Nursing Officer, Penn State Health St. JosephSharon Strohecker is vice president of clinical services and chief nursing officer for Penn State Health St. Joseph.
In this position, she is responsible for oversight of all nursing activities and clinical operations, such as respiratory services, pharmacy, emergency management, oncology services and wound care. Since joining St. Joseph in 2007, she has spearheaded several successful departmental accreditations, including Primary Stroke Center, Advanced Heart Failure Disease-Specific Care certification, Mission: Lifeline – STEMI Receiving Center, Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus, Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure Gold Plus and Centering Pregnancy.
Strohecker also has implemented various quality improvement initiatives that have significantly reduced the number of hospital-acquired infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, mortality and patient falls. Additionally, she established a culture of safety program that led to a 50% increase in reporting and a substantial decrease in significant safety events.
Previously, Strohecker served as nurse director of medical surgical, behavioral health and acute rehabilitation for Abington Hospital―Jefferson Health, Abington, Pa., where she oversaw nursing services for nine clinical units. She was instrumental in the hospital securing Magnet designation.
Strohecker, who has earned nurse executive certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, is a member of the American Association of Nurse Executives. She earned a doctorate in nursing practice through the Chamberlain University College of Nursing and Public Health, a master’s degree in nursing administration from University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Gwynedd Mercy University, Gwynedd Valley, Pa.
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Susan Sullivan
Vice President, Mission and Ministry, Penn State Health St. JosephAs vice president of mission and ministry for Penn State Health St. Joseph, Susan Sullivan oversees the director of Spiritual Care and is lead staff of the board of directors’ mission and ministry committee and medical ethics committee. She also has responsibility for Catholic identity education, compliance with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services and St. Joseph’s relationship with the local Catholic diocesan bishop.
Sullivan has more than 25 years of ministry experience in social justice education and advocacy, encompassing regional, national and international settings. Prior to joining St. Joseph in January 2018, Sullivan served as director of education and outreach for the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. While there, she championed the need to include diverse participants in the first-ever national Convocation of Catholic Leaders, developed a diverse national listening process to shape the 2015 creation of a formation and advocacy website, wearesaltandlight.org, and served as a subject matter expert on Catholic social teaching for the 2015 papal visit of Pope Francis in all three destination cities.
Sullivan has also served as director of parish and social justice ministries for Catholic Charities Atlanta and the director of member services for the Atlanta Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. She is an experienced journalist, editor and freelance writer.
A graduate of Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, Sullivan earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical science. She also completed a master’s degree in theological studies at Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala.
Biography