St. Christopher's Hospital for Children Appoints New Chief Operating Officer

Maria Scenna has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Scenna has more than 11 years of hospital operations experience at the executive level and more than 15 years of health care human resource experience.

Scenna joined St. Christopher’s in 2004 as Associate Administrator. In this role she had oversight for numerous areas of the St. Chris operation including Facilities Management and Materials Management. In this capacity, she was instrumental in securing capital for the hospital and leading the facility’s architectural growth, as well as enhancing St. Christopher’s therapeutic and healing environment for patients and families.

Before joining St. Chris, Scenna served as the Director of Operations at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, overseeing numerous clinical and operational areas, and serving as a member of the ambulatory management staff reviewing performance improvement in the areas of ambulatory care and trauma care.

Prior to this, she was the Director of Human Resources at Hahnemann University Hospital where she successfully reduced employee turnover and vacancy rates and was instrumental in increasing employee satisfaction scores by 24 points in a three-year period.

Scenna received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Immaculata College and her master’s of science degree in Human Organization Science from Villanova University. She is an active member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

“Maria’s exceptional leadership skills and operations experience will help St. Chris to continue our growth and provide the highest level of care to our patients and their families,” says Bernadette Mangan, chief executive officer.

Since 1875, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children has been providing exceptional patient care and advancing new pediatric treatments through research and innovation. Through affiliations with Drexel University College of Medicine and Temple University School of Medicine, St. Christopher’s is a teaching hospital helping to train the next generation of professionals in pediatric medicine.

The 189-bed hospital is committed to delivering high quality family- and patient-centered care to children from throughout the Philadelphia area and around the world. Its highly acclaimed programs include its Level I Pediatric Trauma Center; Level IIIC NICU, which is the highest NICU designation; Heart Center, Oncology/Transplant; as well as its Burn Center, which is the only dedicated pediatric burn center in the area. In 2009, St. Christopher’s achieved Magnet status, which is one of the nation's highest forms of recognition for nursing excellence, and numerous St. Chris physicians were recognized in regional publications as being “Top Docs” in their fields.

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