Executive in Residence
2025 Executive in Residence
Panel Discussion
February 19, 2025 | 6 -7 p.m. | 110 Henderson Building
The panel discussion will feature Executive in Residence, Kendra Aucker, R. Hal Baker, and Keith Noll.
About the panelists
Kendra Aucker
Kendra Aucker is the Senior Vice President for the North Region of WellSpan Health and President of WellSpan Evangelical Community Hospital. She has oversight of WellSpan’s North Region with accountability for systemness goals, operations, drive to a value-based care system, budget management, patient and employee experience, quality, compliance, risk, and accreditation for all services.
Prior to joining WellSpan Health, Aucker was an integral part of Evangelical Community Hospital’s leadership team since 1990, serving as president and CEO for nine years. She helped shape the strategic direction that set Evangelical apart from other community hospitals serving in roles of marketing, physician practice management, operations, and executive leadership.
Aucker will visit Penn State University Park from February 17-20 to share her industry experience and expertise with current students.
R. Hal Baker, MD
R. Hal Baker, MD, currently serves as senior vice president and chief digital and information officer for WellSpan Health. He assumed this role in 2020, focusing on the creation of WellSpan's Analytics Center of Excellence and WellSpan's Innovation Center. He also oversees information technology, medical informatics, cybersecurity, digital, and biomedical.
Recognized as both a physician and technology leader, Baker has served in committee leadership roles for the American College of Physicians. He served on the board of the Health Information and Management Systems Society from 2016 to 2021 and was recognized as the organization's Physician Executive of the Year in 2022.
He previously served as lead physician at Apple Hill Hospital Internal Medicine, where he still practices primary care as part of the WellSpan Medical Group.
Keith Noll
Keith Noll currently serves as senior vice president and chief administrative officer of WellSpan Health. In his current role, he has corporate responsibilities for supply chain services; plant, engineering, and construction management; public safety and security; dietary and nutrition; environmental services; and WellSpan's business optimization efforts.
Noll began his career at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 1989. He moved back to his hometown of York, Pennsylvania, in 1998 to join WellSpan Health. Since then, he has served in a variety of roles within WellSpan Health, including serving as president of its flagship hospital for ten years.
He received a bachelor's degree in health planning and administration from Penn State, and a master of public health in hospital and health care administration from the University of Minnesota.
Darren and Ellen Lehrich HPA Executive in Residence Endowment
Thanks to a generous gift from Ellen and Darren Lehrich, the Department of Health Policy and Administration has established the Darren and Ellen Lehrich HPA Executive in Residence Endowment. This endowment allows the department to invite high-level leaders in the healthcare sector to Penn State University Park to share their industry experience, insights and expertise, and build connections with faculty and current students.
The Executive in Residence program bolsters the department's professional development initiatives, connecting students to healthcare executives and creating new paths to areas of the healthcare sector where there is a demand for talented recent graduates.
Recap the inaugural HPA Executive in Residence event, featuring Ken Fasola, president of Centene Corporation.
- Past speakers
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- 2024: Jennifer Langer Jacobs, Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, New Jersey Department of Human Services
- 2023: Ken Fasola, president, Centene Corporation
