Patrick J. Brennan

Dr. P.J. Brennan is the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Brennan is an infectious diseases physician and pioneer in the field of public reporting of health care associated infections. He developed and led the implementation of Penn’s Blueprint for Quality and Safety, a strategic effort for continuous improvement in clinical accountability and outcomes. The Blueprint has led to significant reductions in hospital acquired infections, inpatient mortality and readmissions. Dr. Brennan is developing a new, more inclusive approach to hospital public reporting that includes evidence-based measures of readmission and infection rates and quality data for emerging areas such as home care and telemedicine. He oversees the departments of Clinical Effectiveness and Quality Improvement, Graduate Medical Education, Patient Safety, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Affairs, and the Center for Health Equity Advancement and has developed a Center for Evidence Based Practice to apply scientific evidence to clinical operations. The Center has produced more than 400 evidence reviews and is an AHRQ Evidence Based Practice Center.

Dr. Brennan served as medical advisor for the University’s COVID Recovery Planning Group and led Penn Medicine’s COVID-19 response including oversight of equitable vaccine distribution and personal protective equipment. These efforts involved working with Penn Medicine and a consortium of churches and recreation centers and resulted in over 300,000 vaccinations throughout the greater Philadelphia area. During the pandemic Dr. Brennan served as lead consultant to local school districts, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and professional and amateur sports teams. In 2021 he was appointed to the inaugural Board of Health for Delaware County Pennsylvania, one of the most densely populated counties in the Commonwealth. Dr. Brennan received the Philadelphia Regional YMCA Honoree Award for 2020 for his efforts during the pandemic and a CDC Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in public reporting. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in early 2022, he has organized weekly consultations in collaboration with the Penn Center for Global Health for Ukrainian hospitals treating combatants.

Dr. Brennan previously served as director of Infection Control for 11 years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and for periods of time held the same post at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. He also served as the director of Tuberculosis Control for the City of Philadelphia.

Dr. Brennan is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and served as its president in 2008. He chaired the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), which advises the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a broad range of issues related to control of infectious diseases. Dr. Brennan is a member of the Patient Safety Advisory Group of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. He is also past chair of the Board of Directors of the Health Care Improvement Foundation, an independent nonprofit that leads initiatives to improve safety, outcomes and experiences of patients in Southeastern Pennsylvania.