Faces of the Valley: AVH president named among Top 100 Women Leaders in Medicine

The head of Allegheny Valley Hospital has been named to the Top 100 Women Leaders in Medicine by online group Women We Admire.

Dr. Vicenta Gaspar-Yoo, president of the Harrison facility, was noted for her acute direction of health care delivery and for spearheading changes that impact patient outcomes.

“I hadn’t heard of this recognition before but it means a lot to me,” said Gaspar-Yoo, who joined Allegheny Health Network (AHN) in 2019.

“It’s great they’re trying to recognize women, knowing that it’s very hard for female leaders to put their changes forward in a still male-dominated field.”

Gaspar-Yoo’s hiring was groundbreaking for the health care network. She is the first female practicing physician president of an AHN hospital.

A native of the Philippines, Gaspar-Yoo came to Allegheny Valley Hospital (AVH) from University Hospital Health Systems in Cleveland, where she served as chief medical officer for both Bedford and Richmond hospitals.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of the Philippines and her M.D. from the University of the East College of Medicine in Manila. She completed an internship at Crozer-Chester Medical Center near Philadelphia and began her career with a residency at UPMC Presbyterian.

She later earned an MBA from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

Allegheny Valley Hospital is a 188-bed facility that in January will mark its 113th year serving the Alle-Kiski Valley. It originally operated in Tarentum before moving to Harrison in 1919.

The hospital was recently recognized by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) for low rates of health care-associated infections. It is one of 17 sites — and the only from AHN — to receive HAP’s Excellence in Patient Safety Recognition for 2021.

Andy Carter, HAP president and CEO, said the honor is given to hospitals that “have taken extraordinary steps to improve patient-safety outcomes, even as they contend with intensified challenges brought on by the covid-19 pandemic.”

Gaspar-Yoo said she is extremely proud of the HAP recognition, as it reflects a commitment to patient care quality and safety across the entire health care team, from the executive level to nurses who deliver direct care at the bedside to the staff members who keep the hospital clean.

Since arriving as the hospital’s top leader, Gaspar-Yoo has helped launch a specialized traumatic brain injury rehab program featuring inpatient and outpatient care, as well as a kidney-stone program that uses a team approach to provide advanced 24/7 patient care.

Earlier this year, AVH embarked on a mission to become a High Reliability Organization (HRO), a cultural shift grounded in transparency and based on three main points: leadership commitment to the goal of zero harm, the creation of a safety culture where everyone can speak up when they are aware of an error, and an empowered workforce.

“This is the legacy I’m going to leave here, how I’ve started this journey to become an HRO,” she said. “It started in March, and we’ve been educating group by group. There is constant awareness of processes of patient care, and the goal is prevent any injury or harm.”

Gaspar-Yoo said she is also highly proud to keep growing the scholarship program at Citizen’s School of Nursing, sponsored by AVH. The school, housed in the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, graduates up to 80 students each year.

“Some of these students are underprivileged, and I’m able to talk to other physicians who are willing to donate money to scholarships,” Gaspar-Yoo said.

“In the past two years, we’ve increased the dollar amount plenty.”

Last year, a new scholarship was initiated to further align with the mission of diversity and inclusion.

“We have a lot going on,” Gaspar-Yoo said. “And I just started.”