Greta Gibode (’02) took a path to Villanova she did not expect to follow.
She ended up at Villanova in 1998 and walked on to the women’s rowing team. Gilbode was part of a Dad Vail gold medal team her senior year and that same year graduated with a bachelor’s in communication.
Now, Gilbode has put in almost two-decades of hard work to get where she is today. She is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, one of the city’s acute care hospitals and Level One Trauma Centers.
Her path to Villanova was not ordinary. It was all basketball growing up for Gilbode. She had the dream of going on to play basketball at a small New England school that was located near her home in New Hampshire.
That all changed when Gilbode tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus. She felt like the rug was pulled out from under her. There was never a day she went without doing some kind of physical activity. The injury prevented her from doing what she loved and still loves. Post college, Gilbode tackled triathlons, marathons or whatever she could get her hands on.
“I wasn’t going to play Division I or Division II [sports],” Gilbode said. “When [I got injured] it really took away a lot of my opportunities. So, my dad drove me to Villanova and I went to candidates weekend [at Villanova], and I was, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is where I’m supposed to be.’”
Quickly, Gilbode discovered rowing at Villanova, a sport she had no experience in.
“I had a really great physical therapist, and he was like, ‘Hey, you’re going to Villanova. Philadelphia is like a big rowing community. I’m sure you could walk on the team,’” Gilbode said. “So, I showed up freshman year with a giant knee brace, and we had to do a run test for the first part of the tryout. My coach was like, ‘You don’t have to do the run.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m doing it.’”
Not that many people are willing to push themselves to do hard things. Gilbode translated that mindset into her professional career. After spending five years at Howell Partners as a director of media, Gilbode returned to school. This time, she attended Saint Joseph’s for her master’s in Health Care Administration to pursue a career in the healthcare field.
Since then she has spent her entire time in the Penn Medicine facilities in different aspects. Just over a year ago, Gilbode was promoted to Vice President and COO after being Vice President of Professional Services for two years, becoming one of the first women at Penn to do so in recent time.
“It’s about a 366-bed hospital with a wide outpatient footprint,” Gilbode said. “I oversee our licensed cancer facility in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey as well. So, on a day-to-day basis, I have the responsibility for all the ancillary services. All of the radiology services. All of our lab services. I’m involved in all the facilities, so all the day-to-day maintenance of the hospital.”
Like most Villanova graduates, Gilbode cannot stay away from Villanova. After meeting her husband, Michael (‘99), who is a Philadelphia-area native, at Villanova, she decided to stick around with him. And also, her first job was here. Now, with their two kids, Ella and Owen, they still make it out to Villanova sporting events.
“I think it has a lot to do with the mission [of the University],” Gilbode said when asked about why alumni stay connected to Villanova. “I enjoy [older alumni’s] company as much as I enjoy the people I graduated with. It’s a special group of people. My brother and sister both went to Boston University, and they think I am crazy. But I think until you’ve lived it, until you’ve experienced it, you don’t understand it.”
