Since forming a consortium to buy Chestnut Hill Hospital in early 2023, Temple University Health System has been expanding its footprint in the area. Now it’s making it easier for local patients needing cardiovascular surgery to get pre-op and post-op services at what is now Temple Health - Chestnut Hill Hospital rather than making multiple trips to Temple’s main campus on North Broad Street.

The actual surgeries are still being done at Temple University Hospital but other appointments, including new patient visits and follow ups, can be closer to home, according to Temple officials.

Dr. Suyog A. Mokashi, a Temple cardiovascular surgeon, says it’s a matter of convenience for patients.

“A lot of it is, when we think of ourselves as caregivers, we’re here to take care of the community,” he said, “... and part of that is meeting the patients where they are because we’re part of the community.”

The fact that people might have to travel some distance and then find parking at or near the main hospital is “something we’re trying to be sensitive to,” he added.

The new process, Mokashi said, also means more continuity in care in that “we’re not just going to transfer you back” to other caregivers after surgery, but “our team will come to you.”

He said it’s part of a new model being used by hospitals and treatment specialties that want to better serve patients. Is it hard to deliver?

“Probably the hardest things in the world,” Mokashi said, “are the things that are the most common sense.”