MedCity News has learned that a new healthcare accelerator is taking shape Philadelphia. Three sources have confirmed former Walgreens executive Peter Hotz is developing the accelerator with Vynamic, a healthcare management consultancy. Although Jefferson Health System and the Center for Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania are among the institutions that could play a role, nothing is official yet.
Hotz serves as mentor to a couple of accelerators for healthcare startups including Blueprint Health and Healthbox. Hotz declined to comment in response to an emailed request to provide details of the accelerator. “We don’t have anything to report at this time,” he said in an email. “We’ll be sure to reach out when the time is right.”
Pennsylvania has four accelerators in the healthcare sector, putting it in the top five states, according to a report by the California HealthCare Foundation published in September that tracked and mapped the steadily growing number of accelerators . At last count there were 115 globally, and 87 in the U.S. alone. California leads the country with at least 31, New York has 12, Massachusetts has six and Texas has five.
Using technology to improve how we manage health, particularly for people with chronic illnesses, has created an appetite for healthcare startups and new approaches to healthcare challenges. Accelerators are also seen as a way to grow companies and jobs.
