Surgery Is a Human Right

OR Excellence

By: Outpatient Surgery Editors

Published: 7/26/2022

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Sept. 30 | 1:30 p.m.


The Center for Surgical Health at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia is run by providers who want to improve the care of vulnerable individuals and under-resourced communities. They connect patients to world-class surgical care, a pathway that is often out of reach for this population. The team is comprised of Penn surgeons, residents, nurses, medical students, social policy and practice and law students, who help navigate each patient through the surgical continuum, connect them to world-class surgical care, and deliver social support through a comprehensive patient navigation program. They’re all enthusiastic and passionate about caring for underserved individuals. They lean into the relationships with patients who are desperately in need of support.

The program ensures procedures suitable for the ambulatory setting are performed in outpatient ORs, which decreases staffing costs and provides a new access point into sustainable, high-value surgical care for patients who typically rely on the ER for treatment. Top surgeons at Penn who perform a wide range of procedures, from general abdominal cases to treatment of peripheral vascular disease, are available to meet the surgical needs of the center’s patients.

FIRST STEPS Dr. Goldshore teaches a personal patient navigator to don a protective gown using sterile technique.  |  Penn Medicine

Matthew Goldshore, MD, PhD, MPH, serves as the center’s deputy director, and Carrie Morales, MD, is its associate deputy director. The surgeons will describe the center’s mission, vision and values, explain how they built it and how it works. They’ll also discuss the surgical health needs of their patients and share how the surgical support model can improve equity and justice in local communities. “We believe that every person who needs surgical care deserves access to a surgeon who understands their lived experience,” says Dr. Goldshore. “We understand that surgery is scary and that providing surgical support services — navigation, education and empowerment, access and referrals — betters patient outcomes.”

We want to spread the word and open our arms to future collaborators.
— Carrie Morales, MD

One of the center’s goals is to transition elective surgery to a preventative health model for disease. “We’re trying to provide care to members of our community most at risk of suffering from morbidity associated with the social determinants of surgical health,” says Dr. Goldshore.

The last three years have shed an important light into inequities that are pervasive both inside and outside the operating room, and now is the time for a smarter, more cost-conscious approach that fits the needs of all patients, says Dr. Goldshore. He and Dr. Morales hope to implement the program at every institution and surgery department across the country. They’re both looking forward to connecting with OR Excellence attendees. “We want to spread the word and open our arms to future collaborators,” says Dr. Morales.

The Center for Surgical Health is comprised of research, policy and medical education arms to support expansion beyond the Philadelphia region. “Surgical systems should be sustainable and meet community needs,” says Dr. Goldshore. “We want to create a world where all individuals with surgical disease have the tools and opportunities to attain their full health potential, and we hope attendees will be inspired to collaborate and implement the center’s programming in their home institutions.” OSM 

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