Philadelphia gets $1.5 billion hospital, first in more than a decade – PHOTOS

Philadelphia will have a $1.5 billion new hospital, the first in more than a decade. The pavilion will house 500 private patient rooms and 47 operating rooms.

The University of Pennsylvania announced that it will build a $1.5 billion new hospital on Penn Medicine’s West Philadelphia campus. The Pavilion, which will house inpatient care for the Abramson Cancer Center, heart and vascular medicine and surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, and a new emergency department is scheduled for completion in 2021.

“Penn is proud to be the preeminent health system in the Philadelphia region. This building will be transformational, serving as the flagship facility for Penn Medicine and setting a new standard for modern health care delivery across the nation,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “This is the hospital that will define America’s best medicine for generations to come.”

One important aspect of the new hospital is allowing for flexibility given the rapid changes in the field of medicine. According to Pen Medicine, this project is Philadelphia’s most sophisticated and ambitious health care building yet to be realized.

“We’re building a hospital that will allow us to deliver the very best care the 21st century can offer patients – but we’re also ‘future-proofing’ it to ensure that we can quickly and seamlessly adapt what we do to help our patients in the coming decades,” said J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, dean of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and executive vice president of the University for the Health System.

The Pavilion will house 500 private patient rooms and 47 operating rooms in a 1.5 million square foot, 17-story facility on the former site of Penn Tower.

“As the nation’s oldest teaching hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is rooted in a history of firsts going back nearly 150 years,” said Ralph W. Muller, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “Now, with the Pavilion, we’re poised for the next 100 years of advances in patient care.”

From physicians and nurses to environmental and dining services workers, all contributed to the pavilion’s design. Also, patients simulations were carried out and extensive staff consultations in order to meet all demands.

This way, the pavilion will provide a seamless flow of operations, from the emergency department through hybrid operating rooms used for both surgeries and high-tech interventional procedures through recovery and discharge, enhanced by technology and the latest research on how to facilitate and improve care team collaboration.

The new hospital also comes with an adaptable room concept through which patient rooms are equipped to flex between an intensive care unit set-up. The design also took into account the fact that as technology moves forward, the rooms will have to change.

Rooms will come with private bathrooms and an area reserved for family and caregivers.

The project also accounts for telemedicine functionality that allows remote monitoring and consultations, as well as technology to link patients to their friends and families at all times. In-room technology will strengthen communication between patients, families, and care teams.

The building itself is eco-friendly with innovations like the re-use of water, 100 percent outside air, and park-like, outdoor green space for patients, families and staff.