We continue to highlight our heroes in healthcare and nominees from the Central Penn Business Journal. Dr. Mark Goedecker, vice president and chief medical officer, Primary Care, was recognized this year in the “Health Professional Hero” category for his work.
The annual Health Care Hero awards honor individuals across the region who excel at their jobs and go the extra mile for the families they serve. Dr. Goedecker is one of 12 honorees representing WellSpan who were recently honored by the journal in a virtual ceremony.
Your work here at WellSpan:
“I joined WellSpan back in 2003 as faculty of the family medicine residency program in York. During my 10 years on faculty, I taught residents and students family medicine including working in the outpatient setting, delivering babies, and caring for patients admitted to WellSpan York Hospital. About 8 years ago, I accepted a physician leadership position within the WellSpan Medical Group. I still see patients at the Thomas Hart Family Practice Center in York. I became Regional Medical Director back in 2018. In this role, I lead all of the physicians and APPs in WellSpan’s Central Region.
“My day to day work involves a lot of meetings on the days I do not see patients. In these meetings we are working to provide our frontline teams with the tools and resources they need to care for patients.”
Facing challenges this past year:
“With COVID-19, you never know what the next challenge is going to be that awaits you around the corner. During this past year, I worked on redeploying physicians and APPs from the outpatient setting to cover our increasing inpatient census with COVID-19. I also worked on our testing strategy for COVID-19. Most recently, I have been helping with our COVID-19 vaccine efforts. Each one of these presented new challenges and forced me to handle problems which I had never had previously.”
Most rewarding days at work:
“I went into medicine to help people. My most rewarding days at work are when I feel I have done this. Whether it be patients, physicians, or any of WellSpan’s 20,000 employees.”
Advice for others entering family medicine:
“Both my wife and I are family doctors, so I have a pretty good understanding of the ups and downs of this profession. Family docs work extremely hard every day to care for their numerous patients. There are many long days (and nights) but the reward is worth it: being able to care for patients and their families as they progress through their lives.”
