St. Christopher's Hospital for Children Appoints New Associate Hospital Administrator

Kirat Kharode has been appointed Associate Hospital Administrator of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Kharode has more than 10 years of hospital operations and business development experience at the executive level.

Kharode joined St. Christopher’s in 2006 as Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer. In this role he was instrumental in developing and expanding affiliate partnerships with regional hospitals and establishing outpatient care sites, as well as increasing awareness of St. Chris through targeted strategic marketing efforts including developing a stronger online presence and advertising campaigns.

Before joining St. Chris, Kharode served as Director of Business Development at Graduate Hospital and also held positions as Division Administrator and Operations Consultant at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he was formerly Transplant Program Administrator/Acting Administrator of the Surgical Service Line at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System where he led in the establishment of the first independent in-house VA liver and kidney transplant program in the country. He has also held previous management roles at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institute and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, both in Baltimore, MD.

Kharode earned undergraduate degrees in Life Sciences and Health Policy Administration from Pennsylvania State University, and a Master's in Health Finance and Management from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from the Temple University Beasley School of Law and has also been nominated to become a Certified Healthcare Executive (CHE)/Fellow (FACHE) in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Kharode is an active member of the American Hospital Association's Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. He also serves on the board of the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Advisory Board of Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania.

“Kirat has been an integral part of our leadership team at St. Chris for the past three-and-a-half years,” says Bernadette Mangan, chief executive officer. “In his new role, Kirat will continue to help us develop positive relationships with other healthcare institutions and referring physicians in the region and grow as an organization.”

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.

To learn more about St. Christopher’s, visit www.stchristophershospital.com. St. Christopher’s can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StChrisHospital or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/stchrishospital.

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