2018 MFHS Champion Award: Karen Murphy, PhD

The Maternal and Family Health Services Champion Award is given to an exemplary individual who is an innovative force for good in the community. This year, we are honored to award Dr. Karen Murphy the title of MFHS Champion. Karen Murphy, PhD, is an extraordinarily accomplished leader in the field of healthcare, currently serving as Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation Officer, and Founding Director of Geisinger’s Steele Institute for Healthcare Innovation.
In her leadership role at Geisinger, and throughout her unique career, Dr. Murphy has embodied tireless dedication to the continual improvement of healthcare delivery to those in need in our community. In addition to her expansive responsibilities with Geisinger’s Steele Institute for Healthcare Innovation, Dr. Murphy utilizes her talents and intellect to educate. She works as a faculty member at Geisinger’s Commonwealth School of Medicine, and she is a published author and public speaker on topics including healthcare innovation.
Before working at Geisinger, Dr. Murphy held numerous other prestigious positions at exceptional healthcare institutions. She served as President and CEO of Moses Taylor Health Care System, and Director of the State Innovation Models Initiative at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr. Murphy previously worked as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health, showing her unending interest in both public and private health concerns.
Through all of her roles, Dr. Murphy has always been a champion for Maternal & Family Health Services, as well as for women and children in our community. When the MFHS maternity program in Scranton was moving from CMC to Moses Taylor, Karen stepped in alongside another former MFHS Champion, Barb Bossi, to ensure the transition was seamless for the families enrolled. With their support, there was no interruption in care for any of the mothers in our maternity program.
MFHS congratulates Dr. Murphy on her tremendous work throughout her career, and we look forward to seeing how her innovative mindset will continue to improve the lives of those in our community.