Before she was an executive vice president and chief operating officer at one of Pennsylvania’s largest health systems, Megan Brosious was a manager with a vision—and a question: What if we could do this better?
That question, posed during Brosious’s time as an operations manager at Geisinger, became the foundation of her capstone project when she was in the inaugural class of the Penn State’s online Master of Health Administration (MHA) in the early 2010s. The project became the blueprint to transform the way Geisinger delivers mental health care services across central and eastern Pennsylvania.
The MHA, which she earned in 2014, became a springboard for Brosious to make profound impacts on rural health care and beyond. Her leadership has expanded access, integrated care, and brought critical services to patients who might otherwise go without—proof that one degree, paired with vision and resolve, can reshape an entire region’s approach to health.
Today, Brosious leads operations for Geisinger’s entire health system as chief operating officer, a position to which she was named in 2025.
“Penn State World campus opened a door for me,” Brosious said. “I was able to get a highly regarded degree while working full time, alongside a tremendous cohort of healthcare professionals who not only enhanced the education experience but became a network of support. Without this Penn State experience, I would not be able to serve my community in the capacity I have been able to.”
Brosious enrolled in the online MHA because she believed she had advanced as far as she could with a bachelor’s degree. But she couldn’t uproot her family’s life in central Pennsylvania to move somewhere to attend graduate school. She needed a program that would allow her to keep working, stay rooted in her community.
The online MHA, which is offered by the College of Health and Human Development through Penn State World Campus, offered exactly that.
Her capstone project proposed a reorganization of Geisinger’s neurosciences services to better integrate care and improve patient outcomes. Rather than filing it away, Geisinger asked her to implement it. That leap from student to strategist launched a decade of upward momentum: from associate vice president of neuroscience to vice president of the Neurosciences Institute, and eventually to Chief Administrative Officer for Geisinger’s Central Region.
In her leadership roles, Brosious helped expand behavioral health access through the planning and construction of two inpatient behavioral hospitals in underserved communities. She also guided the rapid shift of 1,500 physicians to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring continuity of care for patients across the region.
That commitment to access and equity has made a lasting impact—not just on Geisinger, but on the thousands of patients who rely on its services. It also earned her the 2024 Penn State World Campus Outstanding Alumni Award, a recognition of both her professional achievements and her continued engagement with the university.
Brosious has remained a dedicated mentor to students in the MHA program and a champion of its mission. She has supported the program’s national case competition, underwriting awards and helping shape the real-world scenarios that challenge students to think like executives.
Her story is a case study in what the World Campus was designed to do: empower working professionals to lead transformative changes in their fields. But it’s also a reminder that leadership doesn’t always begin with a title. Sometimes, it begins with a question, a classroom, and the courage to imagine something better.
This Q&A spotlight is part of “40k alumni: 40 stories celebrating 40,000 graduates,” a series marking the milestone of more than 40,000 Penn Staters earning their degrees online through Penn State World Campus.