Penn State Health CEO Continues Practicing Medicine

Dr. Michael Kupferman maintains clinical duties while leading health system through Epic integration and medical group unification.

Published on Feb. 23, 2026

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When Michael Kupferman, MD, became CEO of Hershey, Pa.-based Penn State Health in 2025, he brought decades of experience as a practicing physician. Dr. Kupferman continues to work with clinical colleagues one to two days per month, stating it keeps him 'grounded' and allows him to better empower caregivers. As CEO, he is leading Penn State Health through an Epic EHR integration and unifying the system's academic and community physicians into a single medical group.

Why it matters

Dr. Kupferman's approach as a CEO-physician hybrid is relatively uncommon, but allows him to stay connected to frontline care and gain valuable insights to guide the health system's strategic initiatives. Penn State Health's EHR integration and medical group unification efforts aim to enhance patient experience and access across its six-hospital network.

The details

In his CEO role, Dr. Kupferman splits his time each week between Penn State Health's hospitals and clinics, meeting with colleagues, patients and families. He believes the 'best ideas come from the front lines' and wants to empower caregivers to provide exceptional patient care. Along with maintaining clinical duties, Dr. Kupferman is leading Penn State Health's implementation of the Epic EHR system, which is set to go live in Q4 2026. The health system is also working to integrate its academic and community physicians into a unified medical group.

  • Dr. Kupferman became CEO of Penn State Health in late June 2025.
  • Penn State Health began implementing the Epic EHR system in June 2026.
  • The health system plans to go live with the Epic EHR in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The players

Michael Kupferman, MD

CEO of Penn State Health and a trained head and neck surgeon who has practiced medicine since 1999.

Penn State Health

A six-hospital health system based in Hershey, Pennsylvania that is integrating its academic and community physicians into a unified medical group.

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What they’re saying

“It keeps me grounded being able to be part of day-to-day patient care. It's what I've always loved to do. It's why I became a physician. Even though I don't get to spend as much time with patients directly, I feel like my role is to empower our caregivers to do their best work so that they can provide exceptional patient care.”

— Michael Kupferman, MD, CEO (Becker's Hospital Review)

“The best ideas come from the front lines, [they don't] come from the C-suite. The best initiatives, the most foundational ideas really come from our physicians, our nurses and our team members. They're the ones who we engage with in this process.”

— Michael Kupferman, MD, CEO (Becker's Hospital Review)

What’s next

Penn State Health plans to go live with the Epic EHR system in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The takeaway

Dr. Kupferman's dual role as a practicing physician and health system CEO allows him to stay connected to frontline care and gain valuable insights to guide Penn State Health's strategic initiatives, including an Epic EHR integration and the unification of the system's academic and community physicians into a single medical group.