Expansion of Drexel's 11th Street health center to begin next week

Drexel University is starting work next week on a major $9 million expansion of its nurse-managed health center in North Philadelphia. The 11th Street Family Health Services Center will be doubling in size from 17,000-square-feet to about 34,000 square feet.

The Sheller Family Foundation earlier this year provided Drexel with a $2.5 million gift to fund the expansion. The facility has garnered national attention from entities such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as a pioneer in integrated care.

“It’s not just about growing bigger,” said Patricia Gerrity, director of center and a professor and associate dean for community programs at Drexel. “It’s about being able top provide more and better services and having better facilities. We are so crowded right now.”

The center — which will be renamed as the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services Center when the expansion project is completed in the fall of 2015 — now annually cares for about 7,000 mostly low-income patients from four nearby public housing projects.

The two-story expansion will provide space for growing existing primary-care, dental and behavioral-health services; adding new services; and allowing more students and faculty from Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions to train in interdisciplinary care.

Part of a new wing will be used to allow the center to handle more primary-care visits. It will also provide space for counseling services provided by graduate students in Drexel’s department of couple and family therapy. In addition, the center’s dance, music and art therapies will each get their own studios.

The center began in 1996 and moved to its current location on North 11th Street near Poplar Street in 2002. It focuses on providing integrated care — combining primary care and behavioral health services.

“We don’t separate mind and body,” Gerrity said. “A majority of patients come here with and toxic stress from growing in (turbulent) neighborhoods."

In addition to primary-care needs, the center’s staff also address mental health, nutritional needs and home environments of patients when developing treatment plans. The center operates its own fitness center, offers health coaching and provides complimentary therapies like yoga and mindful meditation.

Drexel has put together an advisory panel of community members who will help decide what services and programs should be provided at the site.

The expansion will allow the facility to grow from eight to 20 exam rooms. The size of the staff, now at 55, is also expected to grow by about 15 people.

A ground-breaking ceremony planned for Wednesday afternoon was postponed because of the unfavorable weather forecast. No new date for the event has been scheduled.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal