James A. Pepicello MD

James A. Pepicello , MDGeneral Surgeon , Hamot Medical Center

Thomas J. RocheRetired Chairman , Med Source Technologies , Inc

James A. Pepicello, MD Advisor to the COO for Clinical Quality

James Pepicello, M.D., Hamot's senior vice president of surgical services, said Hamot's decision to start full-time trauma was not meant to be a battle, as the local media characterized it.

"It goes beyond trauma," he said."We're taking things up a couple of notches.I'm not ignoring the business aspects of this-you need to offer high quality care at an affordable price."

James Pepicello, M.D., Hamot's senior vice president of surgical services, said Hamot's decision to start full-time trauma was not meant to be a battle, as the local media characterized it.

"It goes beyond trauma," he said.

"It's when the patient has a condition like severe heart disease and the risk of dying is 10 percent or 20 percent that it becomes more difficult," said James Pepicello, M.D., head of Hamot Medical Center's surgical divisions.

"You can't really compare that to what the conjoined twins went through," Pepicello added.

"The twins were conjoined but otherwise healthy."

With any elective operation, a surgeon will explain the risks and benefits to the patient.Ultimately, the patient makes the final decision.

Electing not to have surgery is not a risk-free decision, Pepicello said.

"Each alternative may have its advantages and disadvantages," he said.

"At the end of the day, patients still typically go where they have gone in the past or where their physician tells them to go," said James Pepicello, M.D., Hamot's senior vice president of operations.

"Looking at national trends, people are using emergency departments more and more," said James Pepicello, M.D., head of Hamot's surgical divisions, including trauma services."Hospitals are diverting because they can't handle the volume.We're not at that point yet, but we do have an aging population in northwestern Pennsylvania."

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Pepicello said Hamot now employs 15 more nurses in the emergency department than it did a year ago, and two trauma surgeons who used to work for Tri-State Trauma - a joint venture by Hamot and Saint Vincent - are now employed by Hamot.

"Four other surgeons work trauma part time in addition to their other duties.We are planning to hire a third full-time trauma surgeon by July," Pepicello said."Of course, we have added staff all over the hospital, including all the nursing units."

Hamot officials also had to negotiate with its contracted specialists to provide additional ER coverage.The Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation requires trauma centers to have certain specialists, including a neurosurgeon, cardiovascular and orthopedic surgeons, on call at all times.

"When you're faced with potentially doubling your workload, it will give anybody pause," Pepicello said."There were concerns expressed, but at the end of the day it all worked out extremely well."

While Pepicello and other Hamot officials have been hiring additional emergency staff, Day and her Saint Vincent colleagues have toured northwestern Pennsylvania.

"He is right on top of all the latest, greatest cancer treatments," said Tom Elliott, a Saint Vincent administrator who runs the RCC on an interim basis with Hamot administrator James Pepicello, M.D. "He is a nationally known physician who will have instant credibility, not just with Erie physicians but regional physicians."

"We have people on the (center's) board who are committed to all these things we have talked about," said James Pepicello, M.D., a Hamot administrator who is running the center on an interim basis with Saint Vincent administrator Tom Elliott.
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Pepicello and Elliott will run the center until they can recruit a cancer doctor with administrative experience to serve as chief executive.
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"The people who make up the board have all worked together on projects in the past," Pepicello said.

n The center, in cooperation with its oncologists, is recruiting three more cancer doctors.
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"We have bits and pieces of a program here now," Pepicello said."We have wonderful hospice services in this community.Unfortunately, many people don't use them until it's too late."

Other changes are being considered, but Elliott and Pepicello said that the center will continue to keep its satellite offices in Meadville, Titusville, Corry and Ashtabula, Ohio.