Board of Trustee Among Panelists at ‘Invest: Philadelphia’ Conference

More than 200 business leaders and professionals gathered to discuss the vibrant future of Philadelphia’s economic and workplace landscapes at the fifth annual “Invest: Philadelphia 2024” conference on April 26 at the Marriott in Center City.

The event highlighted the city’s dynamic strategies for growth, focusing on innovation, collaboration, and technology integration across various sectors.

Thomas Beeman, PhD, LHD, MBA, USN (ret.), a member of the Board of Trustees at Salus University, served as a panelist on one of three panels at the conference. Dr. Beeman, along with Dr. Abiona Berkeley, interim senior associate dean, of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, and Dr. Chris Domes, president of Neumann University addressed the topic “Action plan: Initiatives underway in Philadelphia’s eds and meds sector to create positive outcomes for students and patients.”

“Our initiatives are designed to transform theoretical knowledge into practical solutions that benefit our communities directly,” said Dr. Beeman.

The event emphasized that business leaders in the city look at greater Philadelphia’s key industries, including healthcare and life sciences, financial services, real estate, technology, tourism, and infrastructure that drive the local economy. The area has enjoyed continuous growth and economic expansion in recent years, fueled by business-friendly policies and business relations and expansion during and after the pandemic. Based on that solid foundation, the region is poised to continue its robust growth in the years to come.

“I was honored to be part of a panel that really looked at the issues and recognized that unless we change in higher education and medical care in this country, we’re not going to meet the high demand that we have to meet to be the No. 1 nation in the world,” said Dr. Beeman. He added it was important for Salus to continue to play a role in healthcare and healthcare education in this area.

Currently a professor of practice at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Dr. Beeman joined the Salus Board in 2017 and currently serves as a member of the Committee on Trustees.

Following a distinguished career as a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, he served as chief operating officer of regional operations for Penn Medicine and president and CEO of Lancaster General Health. A graduate of Vanderbilt University with a PhD in leadership and policy, of Widener University with a Master of Business Administration in Health Administration, and of Saint Joseph’s University with a Master in Public health Education and a Bachelor of Science in community health and preventative medicine, Dr. Beeman has co-authored three books and several academic articles.

He said that the Invest: Philadelphia 2024 conference offered the opportunity for those attending to see how important healthcare and higher education are, and without them, we can’t survive within our communities.

“And, as a consequence, we need to get more involved, maybe as trustees, maybe as donors, maybe as community collaborators, to work with these institutions to ensure success,” said Dr. Beeman. “I believe that for those institutions to survive and thrive, they have to be indispensable community assets. People move to communities because of the quality of education and healthcare, and if we forget that and we’re not full participants, we have a problem.”