Temple Health announced today that John Cacciamani has stepped down as President and CEO of Temple-Health Chestnut Hill Hospital, effective immediately, a little more than a year after successfully leading the 100-year-old institution through its 2023 acquisition.

Jeremy J. Slaga, Esq., who currently serves as Temple Health’s Integration Officer, will step in as the Interim CEO while Temple searches for a permanent replacement. 

Abhi Rastogi, MBA, MIS, President and CEO of Temple University Hospital and Executive Vice President of Temple University Health System said in an interview that the leadership change is not a cost-saving measure, but rather a necessary move in support of Chesnut Hill’s integration into Temple’s larger health system. 

“It goes without saying that John did a phenomenal job at this campus for the last several years, keeping it going through a significant transition and we definitely owe him a lot,” Rastogi said. “We have struggled a little bit with integrating (Chestnut Hill) with the larger Temple structure, and we needed to turn this place around with a different sense of urgency…That is what really drove the change.” 

Rastogi said he and his team are focused on reaching all the people who live nearby to make sure they know all that Chestnut Hill now has to offer – including Fox Chase Cancer Center’s urologic, breast cancer, and plastic surgery physicians there; significant capital investments including the purchase of a new CT machine; and the forthcoming integration of Vascular, Thoracic, and Infusion services.

“We’re here to stay. We’re here to expand, and people should know that they can depend on this hospital for quality outcomes,” he said. “We want Chestnut Hill to be an academic community hospital with super clinical outcomes and best-in-class, high-end procedures. We want to grow Chestnut Hill, we want new services on this campus – we’ve hired 20 new nurses in the last four or five weeks.”

As for the hospital’s historic support for the community association’s summer concert series in Pastorius Park, Rastogi said, “If it’s something we’ve always done, I expect we will continue to do it.”

Also stepping down from their positions at Chestnut Hill Hospital are Rebecca Gubanich (VP of Finance), and Scott Friend (VP & Chief Quality Officer). 

Gerald P. Oetzel, MBA, Temple Health’s Chief Financial Officer, will assume strategic leadership of Chestnut Hill Hospital’s financial operations. Carl Sirio, MD, Temple Health’s Chief Medical Officer, will oversee Chestnut Hill’s clinical quality and safety initiatives, infection prevention, clinical risk mitigation, and medical staff affairs and relations, working closely with James L. Helstrom, MD, MBA, Chestnut Hill’s Interim CMO, and CMO of Fox Chase Cancer Center.

According to a press release issued by Temple, Slaga has an 18-year background in health system leadership and hospital administration, “played a critical role in achieving a smooth transition” through the past year and has been “improving operations, assisting with ongoing service enhancements, and supporting its Epic electronic medical record transition.”