1. Running head: Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems 1
HCS 410 Community Health Organization and Administration
Case Study #1: Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems
Dr. Ballantyne PRSBA
Kyla Andre
Alvernia University

2. Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems 2
Executive Summary
The public health system Penn State Hershey is a non-profit organization. Penn State
Hershey provides ambulatory care services. Penn State Hershey does not allow any tobacco use
from any employees, patients, and visitors. There are specialized hospitals for children, cancer,
and research. The Affordable Care Act allowed some changes for Penn State. One of the changes
includes being a part of a research group. The Affordable Care Act also changed the insurance
policy at Penn State Hershey.
Mercy Health System is a catholic and non-profit health system. They deliver care
motivated by faith in a god. Spiritual care is always provided as well as a Chapel in the hospital.
Mercy Health System has four different locations. Mercy Health System underwent some new
changes due to the Affordable Care Act. The buying of health insurance in the exchanges is
provided by Mercy. They also offer financial assistance to the uninsured.

3. Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems 3
Body
Penn State Hershey is a public and non-profit health system. The history of Penn State
Hershey health system is fascinating. The Pennsylvania State University received $21.3 million
dollars from the U.S. Public Health Service and $50 million from the M.S. Hershey Foundation,
to build a medical school, teaching hospital, and research center. Penn State Milton S. Hershey
Medical Center accepted its first patients in 1970. Today the hospital specializes in pediatrics,
cancer, and many more. The hospital conducts clinical research and is funded by private, federal,
and state agencies, businesses, and individuals.
Penn State Hershey has its own mission and values. The mission statement is “Penn State
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is committed to enhancing the quality of life through
improved health, the professional preparation of those who will serve the health needs of others,
and the discovery of knowledge that will benefit all.” Penn State Hershey has a patient care
promise, which is
“Our objective is to provide a range of fully integrated patient care services for the
people of central Pennsylvania and beyond. These services will extend from prevention
of illness and maintenance of health through primary medical care to the highly
sophisticated patient care expected at the nations premier academic medical centers”
(Penn State Hershey, 2015).
Penn State Hershey likes to involve the community in health education. Their community
outreach is
“We will provide community outreach services to the public through health education,
patient care, community activities, and applications of research. We endeavor to provide
health education to the public. In turn, community support for our research missions

4. Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems 4
fosters clinical applications that positively impact patient care” (Penn State Hershey,
2015).
The values of Penn State Hershey are listed below:
 Respect – for everyone
 Trust – honesty and integrity in everything we do
 Teamwork – internally and externally
 Equity - in resource allocation, responsibilities, rewards, and governance
 Compassion - for everyone
 Diversity - of our workforce, patients, and students
 Excellence – in everything we do
As you can see, Penn State Hershey is a mission driven, caring, and public facility striving to
provide the best care.
Penn State Hershey has a partnership with a farmers market. They opened a farmers
market on their campus in 2010 to the community. The medical center gets the opportunity to
address health issues such as cardiovascular disease. Nutritionists are available to hand out
materials on weight management and answer questions. The farmers market allows the
community access to care and good food quality. This is an example of an ambulatory health
care service (JAMA, 2013).
Penn State Hershey provides spiritual care only upon request and does not have a chapel
on site. Tobacco use is prohibited from employees, patients, and visitors. The hospital has
specific visitor hours to help with healing. Penn State Hershey allows abortions, and in vitro
fertilization if necessary because they are a public hospital.

5. Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems 5
When the Affordable Care Act was passed Penn State Hershey had to make some
changes. The Patient- Centered Outcomes Research Institute is a non-profit institute created
through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Penn State, along with three other health
systems, are a part of the PaTH Network. The Patient- Centered Outcomes Research Institute is
funding research for the PaTH Network.
“The Patient- Centered Outcomes Research Institute’s mission is to help patients, their
caregivers and healthcare providers make informed healthcare decisions based on
outcomes that are relevant to those living with a particular condition. That means
designing studies that track these patient-centered outcomes” (nkazmar, 2015).
Previously researchers have been the ones who determined what the outcomes should be in
studies, but now PaTH Network is trying to change that. PaTH Network is conducting research
about studying patient-centered outcomes for common conditions such as atrial fibrillation.
Penn State Hershey provides a list of accepted insurances on their website. They offer
financial assistance based on income, family size, and assets for medically necessary services for
uninsured and underinsured. This is helpful due to the Affordable Care Act providing more
insurance to Americans.
Unlike Penn State Hershey, Mercy Health System is a non-profit and catholic health
system. The history of Mercy Health System in intriguing.
“Mercy Health System was founded as a healthcare ministry of the Sisters of Mercy who
have been providing health care in Philadelphia for more than 90 years. The Sisters of Mercy
were founded in Ireland, then came to Philadelphia in 1861. The Sisters of Mercy founded
Misericordia Hospital (now known as Mercy Philadelphia Hospital) in 1918. Today, there are
about 10,000 Sisters of Mercy around the world” (Mercy Health System, 2015).

6. Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems 6
Mercy Health System has a mission, which states “We, Mercy Health System and Trinity
Health, serve together in the spirit of the Gospel as a compassionate and healing presence within
our communities. In fulfilling our mission, we have a special concern for persons who are poor
and disadvantaged” (Mercy Health System, 2015). The vision of Mercy Health System is, “As a
mission-driven regional health ministry, we will become the recognized leader in improving the
health of our communities and each person we serve. We will be known as the most trusted
health partner for life” (Mercy Health System, 2015). The core values of Mercy Health System is
in accordance with faith in god and are listed below:
“Reverence: We honor the sacredness and dignity of every person. Commitment To
Those Who Are Poor: We stand with and serve those who are poor, especially those most
vulnerable. Justice: We foster right relationships to promote the common good, including
sustainability of Earth. Stewardship: We honor our heritage and hold ourselves
accountable for the human, financial and natural resources entrusted to our care.
Integrity: We are faithful to who we say we are” (Mercy Health System, 2015).
These core values are very similar to the ones at Alvernia University.
At Mercy Health System, spiritual care is always provided. There is a chapel on site with
a mass schedule. Mercy also provides Chaplains to come to the patient’s room. There are four
different locations of Mercy Health hospitals and all of them provide the same spiritual services.
Visitors are allowed to visit at any time depending on the unit and are limited to three people at a
time for inpatient. Since Mercy Health System is catholic, it does not allow abortions or in vitro
fertilization under any circumstances due to the unethical reasoning.
Mercy Health System endured some changes after the Affordable Care Act was passed.
Mercy offers new coverage options and offers individuals to buy health insurance in the

7. Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems 7
marketplace or exchange. Information can be found on their website. “They have a new
marketplace available online, by phone, or through approved insurance broker. It is designed to
make buying health coverage easier” (Mercy Health System, 2015). Of course they suggest
buying a plan that includes Mercy Health on it. On Mercy Health System’s website there is no
place to find the accepted insurances. Yet there is financial assistance provided to the uninsured
and is based on income and family size.
Mercy Health System provides cosmetic surgery services. The pharmacy at Mercy
electronically dispenses medication like any other hospital. However, they only starting
electronically dispensing medication in 2005.

8. Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems 8
Summary
In conclusion, there are more differences between Penn State Hershey and Mercy Health
System. Some of the similarities between the health systems consist of different located
hospitals, some services each hospital makes available, their goal in providing the best care, and
both offer financial assistance for uninsured.
The differences between Penn State Hershey and Mercy Health System are the mission,
vision, and values, target patients, ambulatory care, history, spiritual care, and visiting hours.
Penn State Hershey’s mission is “to enhancing the quality of life through improved health, the
professional preparation of those who will serve the health needs of others, and the discovery of
knowledge that will benefit all” (Penn State Hershey, 2015). However, Mercy Health System’s
mission is focused on providing care to the poor and disadvantaged. Mercy Health System’s
values are more religious from a broad perspective, whereas Penn State Hershey has specific
values. Penn State Hershey provides ambulatory care to the community and Mercy Health does
not have anything currently arranged. Mercy Health System guarantees spiritual care, though
Penn State Hershey could have spiritual care provided if requested. Mercy Health System does
not allow abortion or in vitro fertilization under any circumstances, but Penn State Hershey will
allow these surgeries if they are life threatening.
Penn State Hershey has performed better than Mercy Health System for several reasons.
Penn State Hershey is up to date with their technology and specialists. They are able to treat
more rare conditions than Mercy Health System would. Mercy Health System has to try to
balance between business and ministry. Patients are going to want certain health services and not
be told it is against the religion or practice of the hospital. Patients are going to go to Penn State
Hershey because there are minimal services they cannot provide.

9. Public and Catholic Franciscan Health Systems 9
References
1. Human Development. (2013). Mission Integration in Catholic Healthcare: Two
Perspectives. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT MAGAZINE, 29-31.
2. JAMA. (2013). Medical Centers Find Strategic Partnership with Farmers Markets. The
Journal of the American Medical Association, 1333.
3. Mercy Health System. (2015, September 22). About Our History. Retrieved from Mercy
Health System: http://www.mercyhealth.org/about/history/
4. Mercy Health System. (2015, September 22). Our Vision, Mission, and Core Values.
Retrieved from Mercy Health System: http://www.mercyhealth.org/about/mission/
5. nkazmar. (2015, July 13). PaTH Network starts studying patients at four institutions with
support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Retrieved from Penn
State Medicine: http://pennstatemedicine.org/2015/07/13/path-network-starts-studying-
patients-at-four-institutions-with-support-from-the-patient-centered-outcomes-research-
institute/
6. Penn State Hershey. (2015, September 22). About Us. Retrieved from Penn State Hershey
Medical Center: http://www.pennstatehershey.org/web/guest/home/aboutus
7. Pinkerton, S. (2000). Integrated Delivery Systems: Mercy Health Services. Nursing
Economics, 32-41.