John Colombo, MD, Named Chief of Hospitalists for Crozer-Keystone Health System
John Colombo, M.D., FACP, CMD, CHCQM, was recently named the Chief of Hospitalist Medicine for Crozer-Keystone Health System. In this role, he will be responsible for overseeing the hospitalist programs at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Delaware County Memorial Hospital, Springfield Hospital and Taylor Hospital.
A hospitalist is a physician who cares for patients while they are in the hospital. “We are board-certified physicians who have chosen to specialize in hospital medicine functioning as the patient’s primary care physician,” says Colombo. Once patients are discharged they are instructed to return to the care of their primary doctor, who receives a complete summary of the patient’s hospital treatment.
“Right now, some of our hospitalists work at more than one facility in a day. We are working to develop a structure where there is a hospitalist group at each CKHS hospitals,” continues Colombo.
Colombo received a bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph’s University. He earned his a medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University and served an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pa. After running a solo practice for 10 years, he became a general internal medicine specialist at CKHS in 2001. He started the Delco Hospitalist Program at Delaware County Memorial Hospital in 2011.
Having a hospitalist program affords primary care physicians more time to see patients in offices, since the hospitalist now handles the rounding that those physicians used to do in the hospital. They are also a valuable resource for nurses, case managers and social workers because of their round-the-clock availability.
Although a hospital stay—and not seeing their “regular” doctor can cause anxiety for a patient— they can rest assured knowing that they are being cared for by a highly skilled, compassionate team of hospitalist physicians.
To learn more about the hospitalists program visit www.crozerkeystone.org or to find a physician, call 1-800-CK-HEALTH (1-800-254-3258).
