Have a question about Philly’s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is expanding and renovating its busy Center City emergency department this summer, backed by a $28 million gift from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation — a major show of support from one of Philadelphia’s most prominent philanthropic names, the health care giant announced on Wednesday.
Sidney Kimmel was born as the son of a cab driver in Philadelphia during the Great Depression, but the entrepreneur is now a billionaire and film producer in California. The Center City emergency department will be named after his wife, Caroline Kimmel.
Emergency department renovations are expected to cost $19 million, while the remaining funds are earmarked for clinical and translational research at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Jefferson’s grant funding has tripled over the past decade to $200 million from a variety of sources, including federal sources, corporate donors and individual philanthropists.
The Center City emergency department is getting renovations and upgrades after a philanthropic gift. (Courtesy of Jefferson Health)Over the past three decades, the Kimmel family has donated more than $150 million to support Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health including supporting the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson. In 2014, the Kimmels donated $110 million to the medical college — among the largest gifts to a medical school in the nation.
“For Caroline and me, this is the right time, the right project, and the right place to give,” said Sidney Kimmel in a news release. “My heart has always been in Philadelphia, and access to the highest level of care has never been more important.”
Jefferson Health operates several emergency departments across the region, but its Level I trauma centers in Center City and North Philadelphia are designed to respond to the most critical medical issues and are both getting renovations. Each year, Thomas Jefferson University and Einstein hospitals see about 150,000 emergency department visits.
The entire Jefferson Health network saw more than 440,800 emergency room visits last year, the health care provider told its bondholders in recent financial documents. The company now employs 65,000 workers, making itthe largest employer in the region. Its emergency room in Center City employs 350 people, from clinicians to nurses, residents and support staff.
Construction for the Center City emergency department, which will include a new 30-bed medical-surgical unit, is expected to begin in late July,while the North Philadelphia location has already opened its new 20-bed observation unit. The changes aim relieve pressure on existing emergency room capacity and improve medical care. The renovations also include new treatment bays, an expanded entrance and a retrofitted waiting room.
“These upgrades to the emergency department are just the beginning of our long-term vision to redefine what accessible, patient-centered healthcare looks like in our region,” said Dr. Baligh R. Yehia, president of Jefferson Health in a statement.
In the past year, Jefferson Health opened the Honickman Center in Center City as it expands the overall network.
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.
English (US) ·