York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health is migrating its entire technology infrastructure to the cloud through a partnership with Amazon Web Services, a move that will help the health system build a stronger technology foundation.
“This is part of a much bigger initiative for us. As we look ahead at our strategy, we have some bold goals in our strategic vision, centered around exceptional healthcare, with a strong focus on personalization and simplification,” Kasey Paulus, WellSpan’s COO, told Becker’s. “To do that, we knew we needed a strong technology foundation, and we felt it was time to shift from a traditional on-premises server model to the cloud.”
WellSpan chose Amazon Web Services as its cloud partner after being introduced to the company through its strategic partner, General Catalyst, which is part of the health system’s Health Assurance Transformation partnership.
“AWS stood out as a partner that can move quickly. This is a large migration, and they’ve really stepped up to help us deliver on an accelerated timeline,” Ms. Paulus said.
WellSpan will shift approximately 7.5 petabytes of clinical and nonclinical data and more than 300 applications spanning areas such as nursing, cardiology, pharmacy and supply chain operations to the cloud by April 2026.
“There’s really nothing that won’t end up moving, except for a handful of solutions we already have in the cloud,” Ms. Paulus said. “It’s large and complicated, but the team is doing a phenomenal job pacing the work and putting the right checks and balances in place. We’re starting with smaller server migrations to begin building out processing functionality. Our goal is to transition everything that’s feasible from a clinical perspective to the cloud.”
The transition is currently on track to be completed by April 2026. With the migration, WellSpan aims not only to strengthen its technology foundation but also to enable the organization to continue leveraging AI solutions.
“As we use more AI solutions, they require more storage capability, and we need to be able to move quickly. Having that cloud foundation allows us to trial and pilot with new AI partners before making a full commitment,” Ms. Paulus said. “Another exciting piece is the ability for AI solutions to work with other AI solutions within the cloud. As we think about sharing information and bringing solutions together, it creates opportunities we simply wouldn’t have with our current infrastructure.”
The move is also expected to provide financial benefits for the health system. According to Ms. Paulus, AWS will allow the organization to plan ahead from both a capital and operating expense standpoint.
“Instead of upgrading servers on a routine basis, we can shift those precious capital dollars to other important strategies,” she said. “It also helps us plan better. Every time we look to bring in a new solution or partner in a new space, in our current state we typically have to plan for bringing a new server online. That adds time to innovation and adds dollars to go-lives.”
For WellSpan, the move to the cloud will lay the foundation for adopting new technologies and solutions, bringing them together in new ways and offering new experiences for patients and the community that the organization has not previously been able to deliver.
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