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HEALTH SYSTEM Transformation

We transform operations by partnering with staff and leaders to infuse justice into all aspects of how our health system operates.

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Health is shaped long before a patient enters a hospital and long after they leave. Yet most health systems are not designed to address the social, environmental, and structural conditions that drive outcomes for both patients and the healthcare workforce.

The CHJ Health System Transformation portfolio is working to bridge this gap by embedding justice directly into how care is designed and delivered, and how our staff experience the Penn Medicine workplace.

CHJ sits within the Center for Healthcare Transformation and Innovation (CHTI), under the direction of Dr. Raina Merchant, the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) Chief Transformation Officer. We partner with new and existing health system projects to bring a justice-centered lens to all phases of project development and deployment.

This model is grounded in co-design, partnership, and systems thinking, working alongside clinical, operational, and community stakeholders to embed justice into transformation efforts from the outset.

CURRENT Projects

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Hospital At Home

Hospital at Home is a care model that delivers acute, hospital level treatment to eligible patients in their homes. Our team leads the effort to meet immediate social needs patients may have to ensure safe healing at home.

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Greening Hospital Campuses

Can healthcare environments themselves become tools for healing? Hospitals are often designed for efficiency and clinical function, but rarely for the broader wellbeing of patients, families, and staff. Yet a growing body of evidence shows that access to nature, including trees, gardens, and green space, can reduce stress, improve recovery, and enhance mental health. CHJ is working to bring these insights into practice by integrating greening strategies into hospital campuses. Building on the Deeply Rooted model and related research, this work positions healthcare environments as extensions of care—spaces that actively contribute to healing.

PAST Projects

Project Thrive

Can investing in the economic stability of healthcare workers improve health, well-being, and system performance?

Across health systems, many employees experience financial insecurity that impacts their wellbeing and ability to thrive at work, contributing to burnout, absenteeism, and turnover. Project Thrive (PT), originally launched at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, was grounded in the belief that supporting workforce wellbeing was essential to delivering high-quality care. The model included supports such as emergency financial assistance, financial wellness resources, food security support, and transportation assistance. 

The Center for Health Justice (CHJ) worked to better understand how financial hardship impacted healthcare employees and explore approaches that supported workforce economic wellbeing across Penn Medicine. Building on the original Project Thrive model, CHJ engaged stakeholders across entities, participated in Wellbeing Rounds at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, conducted deeper employee insight conversations, and explored existing resources related to economic wellbeing, including financial counseling and hardship grant models. The work focused on listening, learning, and operational discovery to better understand employee experiences, awareness and utilization of supports, and opportunities to strengthen future workforce wellbeing strategies.

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LIFT EVERY VOICE

Reporting to raise awareness

Experiences of racism, bias, and discrimination in the workplace are common for many individuals in healthcare environments, and yet there are few mechanisms through which staff can report these experiences. Lift Every Voice was a low-friction, anonymous digital platform to actively collect and intervene on experiences of racism in the healthcare workplace. The platform provided health system leaders with information needed to understand and act on experiences impacting staff and patients.