Children's Hospital names its first female CEO

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announced Thursday that it was promoting Madeline Bell to succeed Steven M. Altschuler as CEO of the pediatric health-care system, the largest in the nation by patient revenue.

She will be the first woman to lead the organization, founded in 1855 as the first pediatric hospital in the country.

Bell, who started at Children's in 1983 and returned in 1995 after leaving for a time, now is president and chief operating officer. She will take over July 1 from Altschuler, who has been CEO for 15 years.

"The opportunity to lead this organization during such a dynamic and changing time in health care is exciting," said Bell, whose promotion was part of a succession-planning process.

Bell, 54, became chief operating officer in 2007 and president in 2010.

After receiving her nursing degree from Villanova University, the Delaware County native started her career as a pediatric nurse at Children's in 1983. She worked at Main Line Health as an administrator for six years starting in 1989 but returned to Children's in 1995.

Among her increasing responsibilities there were the development of the hospital's ambulatory-care network and the expansion of its main campus. The tax-exempt organization has spent nearly $2 billion on building projects on the main campus and in its extended network over the last eight to 10 years, Bell said.

Next up is a $270 million building across the Schuylkill from the main Children's campus. That facility is expected to open in 2017 and will house clinical research and certain administrative services.

Children's, which employs 12,000, is anchored by a 535-bed hospital in University City. It has grown to include more than 50 locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for primary and outpatient care.

A major focus for Bell is forming more hospital partnerships, like those it has with Virtua in South Jersey and, starting July 1, with Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster.

"We will be reaching out to hospitals in the region, nationally, and internationally," she said.

Under Altschuler's leadership, Children's grew from $654 million in net patient revenue in 2000 to $2 billion last year.

This has been a big week for Bell, who lives in Bryn Mawr.

Her birthday was Monday; she was named CEO Thursday; and on Friday she will be the commencement speaker at Villanova and collect an honorary doctorate.

"I'm working on my speech in the midst of all this," Bell said after her promotion was announced. "It's kind of interesting that I'm returning there tomorrow and talking to the students about career development."