Guten Tag. No, it’s not a typo. Alameda Health System leadership learned that this is a common German greeting from rising leaders from Germany and Switzerland who were on the AHS-Highland Hospital Campus on October 2. These young professionals were accompanied by members from the University Of California Berkeley School Of Public Health (Berkeley SPH).
“These participants are sponsored by the German Managed Care Association. It brings together people from different backgrounds in the health field, like hospitals, physicians associations and pharmaceutical companies, to work together on projects that will improve their system as a whole,” said James Robinson, Health Economics Professor at Berkeley SPH. In addition to the Highland tour, the cohort also planned to visit other places in the Bay Area like Kaiser Permanente, Google and Genentech.
The meeting opened up with an overview of the system given by Luis Fonseca, AHS Chief Operating Officer, followed by an explanation of the AHS population health journey given by Mini Swift, M.D., Vice President of Population Health and closed with Ghassan Jamaleddine, M.D., AHS Chief Medical Officer giving a summary of AHS accolades and insight to physician strategy.
“Baljeet was one of my students at Berkeley so I reached out to him to see if this would be possible. I am glad the group is getting a chance to tour Highland and learn about safety-net institutions,” said Robinson.
The tours were led by Baljeet Sangha, AHS Vice President of Support Services and members of the Public Affairs and Community Engagement (PACE) Team. Participants had a chance to visit the Family Birthing Center, Diagnostic & Interventional Services (DISC) and the Emergency Department.
“The differences between the American health care system and the ones in Germany or Switzerland, where I’m from originally, are enormous and I think I have a great opportunity to learn a lot on this trip,” said Leander, one of the physicians on the tour. “The American health care system seems very fragmented, there are many different insurance providers and employer options, whereas where I’m from the state has more control. On the flipside, our facilities and services aren’t as dynamic. There is no healthy competition to be the best because everyone is paid the same by the government.”
This informational learning session and tour is just one of the many ways AHS demonstrates its commitment to teaching all.