October 14, 2005

PENN Medicine Embarks on Largest Capital Project in Its History
Groundbreaking for PENN’s New Center for Advanced Medicine to Be Held Thursday, October 20th

(Philadelphia, PA) – PENN Medicine announces the largest capital project undertaking in its history with the new Center for Advanced Medicine. This state-of-the art facility will bring together Penn’s top medical minds to fight the nation’s top killers – all under one roof. Our physicians, surgeons, nurses and medical staff – who battle cancer and cardiovascular disease on a daily basis – will now be able to care for our patients on an outpatient basis in one central, modern and comfortable location.

The new $232 million Center – comprised of 300,000-square-feet for clinical space – will house Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, radiation oncology, cardiovascular medicine, and an out-patient surgical pavillion. “This important project will provide enormous benefits to our patients, physicians, staff, and indeed, to the entire Philadelphia region,” says University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann, PhD. “The Center’s mission, to offer more accessible, patient-friendly care directly supports our long-range vision to share the fruits of our integrated knowledge with our communities.”

Nationally renowned architect Rafael Viñoly of Rafael Viñoly Architects PC – who is partnering with Perkins Eastman on this project and is known locally for creating the Kimmel Center – was chosen to design the new Center. Additionally, physicians and nurses have participated every step of the way in the planning to help design a building conducive to the most effective delivery of health care and to create the most ideal working environment. One unique aspect to the facility – a glass atrium – will top off the building, bringing sunlight into all corners and opening the formerly blocked landscape from 34th Street to the Schuylkill River.

Scheduled to open in 2008, the building will be located on the corner of 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard. In addition to providing more clinical care capacity, the new building will provide the setting for a new paradigm of patient care at Penn. “The Center for Advanced Medicine will enable us to take patient care to a new level of excellence, with every aspect of the building designed with our patients’ comfort, convenience, and quality of care in mind,” says Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and Dean of the School of Medicine.

In addition to improving access to world-class medical care for Philadelphia’s citizens, the new Center will also help improve the economic health of the city by creating new jobs on a permanent basis. Recognizing this positive impact, federal, state, and local governments are providing more than $20 million in support of the project and individual donors have already contributed $27 million to support the project.

“The Center for Advanced Medicine will be a spectacular statement of where PENN Medicine is going in the 21st Century,” says Ralph Muller, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “It will provide a place where our excellent health care professionals will be able to practice the most advanced medicine available, treating patients in a setting that is a patient-oriented as it can possibly be.”

Invitation to Cover

October 20th marks the end of the dreaming and the start of the doing.
Join us as we embark on our vision for the future of medicine!

FACTS:

Cancer Programs

Abramson Cancer Center

• 86,000 square feet of clinical space
• 72 exam rooms
• 82 chemotherapy/infusion bays
• Patient support, e.g., library and education, counseling and meditation rooms, garden

Radiation Oncology

• 47,500 square feet clinical space
• 5 linear accelerators
• 3 CT simulators
• 1 PET/CT simulator
• 1 MRI simulator
• 12 exam rooms

Proton Therapy

• Integrated program with CHOP

Cardiovascular Services

Cardiovascular Medicine

• Heart failure program
• Adult congenital heart disease
• Consultative cardiology services
• Electrophysiology program
• Interventional cardiology program

Diagnostic Testing

• Nuclear medicine
• Echocardiography
• EKGs, Holter monitoring
• Vascular imaging

Cardiovascular Surgery Clinic

• Complex aortic surgery
• Valve surgery, including mitral valve
• Cardiac bypass surgery (robotic and minimally invasive)
• Permanent cardiac support (ventricular assist devices, artificial heart)

Vascular Surgery & Medicine

Outpatient Surgery

8 Operating Rooms

• 600 square feet each (30% larger than required by code) which provides maximum flexibility to accommodate ever-changing technologies

32 Pre-operative and Recovery beds

OR Supply and Processing Support

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PENN Medicine is a $2.7 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn’s School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked #4 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System comprises: its flagship hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, consistently rated one of the nation’s “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home health care and hospice.

Perkins Eastman is one of the largest architecture, programming, planning, and interior design firms in North America. The firm’s specialized practice areas include healthcare, education, housing, senior living, cultural institutions, corporate interiors, public sector facilities, and retail/mixed-use. With offices in New York, NY; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; McLean, VA; Oakland, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; Shanghai, PRC; Stamford, CT; and Toronto, ON, Perkins Eastman offers unique solutions, innovative environments, and design excellence to clients throughout the world.

Rafael Viñoly Architects PC is a critically acclaimed international practice with headquarters in New York and London. Founded in 1982, the 160-person firm provides comprehensive services in building design, urban planning, and interior design. The firm’s diversified work encompasses a wide range of building types such as courthouses, cultural facilities, convention centers, educational facilities, and healthcare research facilities.

This release is available online at http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/oct05/CAM.htm