LVEDC President & CEO Don Cunningham interviews Michael Spigel, President & CEO of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, for the latest entry in LVEDC’s executive virtual interview series.

When it comes to leading Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, Michael Spigel said his approach starts with a single basic premise: “in health, we serve people through people.”

“The most intimate things we do – whether it’s through nursing staff, nursing assistants, therapists – are done by a person for and to another person,” said Spigel, who became the new  President & CEO of Good Shepherd in August.

Michael Spigel, President & CEO of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network

“So everything begins there,” Spigel said, “We serve people through people, and in order to serve people at the highest level, it’s incumbent upon me to create the atmosphere and environment that employees feel respected, they feel recognized, they feel appreciated, because by that they will do their best work.”

Spigel was interviewed in the fourth entry in a weekly series the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) is conducting with new corporate leaders at some of Lehigh Valley’s leading companies and largest employers.

“It’s been an interesting last 15 months in the Lehigh Valley for a multitude of reasons, one being that we’ve never had as much change in the C-suite in Presidents and CEOs of major employers across the Lehigh Valley,” said LVEDC President & CEO Don Cunningham. “There’s a whole new group of folks that are steering our companies and institutions, and helping to frame and shape our economy going forward.”

The Lehigh Valley Health Network is the presenting sponsor for the series, with Capital Blue Cross as the premier sponsor. Gold sponsors include BB&T, now Truist and Fitzpatrick, Lentz & Bubba. Crayola and Good Shepherd Rehabilitation are event sponsors for the series; Follett LLC is the interview sponsor, Countess Communications is the production sponsor, and ArtsQuest is the venue sponsor.

Cunningham conducted the interview with Spigel, the full video for which can be viewed below. New videos are released each Thursday at 3 p.m. on LVEDC’s Facebook page.

Current and previous archived videos can be found here and on LVEDC’s YouTube channel. There will be no interview on Oct. 8 due to the confessional forum LVEDC is hosting that day.

The next interview subject on Thursday, Oct. 15, will be Arthur Dorn, Lehigh Valley Market President and Travis Rhodes, Regional President Delaware Valley/Lehigh Valley Region at BB&T, now Truist.

Good Shepherd differs from the major health networks in Lehigh Valley because it focuses specifically on rehabilitation medicine, and partners with the acute care hospitals to provide treatment for patients who require significant ongoing rehabilitation needs after leaving the hospital.

Before joining Good Shepherd in August, Spigel has a long career in health care administration with a focus on rehabilitation. He previously worked for health care providers in St. Louis and Sacramento, and was most recently President & COO of Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville, Fla.

About 2,100 people work for Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, including about 1,100 in Lehigh Valley, Spigel said. Health care is the largest employer in Lehigh Valley, with about 60,000 people working in the sector, Cunningham said.

Spigel, who has a degree in physical therapy from the University of Maryland, began his career as a physical therapist at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He had originally expected to go into teaching and research, and described his path into management and leadership roles as almost accidental.

Spigel also discussed Good Shepherd’s plans for a new campus on 45 acres in Upper Saucon Township. The company will continue to operate its main facility in South Allentown, but will relocate its in-patient rehabilitation hospital to Upper Saucon and continue to offer other services in Allentown, like long-term care and outpatient services.

Other upcoming interviews in the LVEDC executive video series will include:

• Kevin Orfan, President of Sharp Packaging U.S.
• Todd Shamash, President & CEO of Capital Blue Cross
• Vince Sorgi, President & CEO of PPL Corp.
• Matt Sorrentino, President & CEO of Health Network Laboratories
• Pat Turner, President of FLSmidth

ArtsQuest provided access to indoor space large enough for safe distancing for the interviews. There is no audience for the interviews, which will adhere to public health and social distancing standards.