Staffed by Penn Medicine clinicians, PHMC Health Center on Cedar offers comprehensive primary and behavioral health care.
Penn Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health is caring for residents of West and Southwest Philadelphia at the new federally qualified health center located at the PHMC (Public Health Management Corporation) Public Health Campus on Cedar.
Formally known as the PHMC Health Center on Cedar, the new center provides community members with access to high-quality, integrated, patient-centered health care. It offers primary and preventive care, behavioral health services, prenatal and postnatal care, substance use disorder treatment, chronic disease management, and social services assistance.
Penn’s Family Medicine and Community Health clinicians provide care across the lifespan, so far serving patients ranging in age from 6 months to 96 years old. The new center offers an important complement to the broad continuum of public health services and programming for the Cedar campus. Other Penn Medicine services on the campus include an emergency department and onsite inpatient and hospital-based behavioral health services operating as a remote location for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), known as HUP-Cedar Avenue.
In March 2021, the PHMC Public Health Campus on Cedar opened, transitioning the building from the former Mercy Philadelphia Hospital. The campus, which is owned and operated by PHMC, continues to evolve into a multi-faceted and innovative public health campus, with significant support and participation from Penn Medicine.
“The new Health Center is an important extension of our public health partnership. It’s a place that prioritizes taking care of our neighbors in the very best setting – closest to home, where they can count on our team to be their trusted medical home for every phase in their lives,” said Kevin B. Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “Our work with PHMC has shown that new models and creative ideas are essential for building and supporting healthy communities, and for keeping health equity at the center of that mission.”
Since March 2021, HUP-Cedar has served more than 5,850 patients during inpatient and observational stays, tallied 37,000 emergency department visits, and connected dozens of patients for specialty care in other parts of the Penn Medicine system. The campus has been a key site for walk-up COVID-19 testing and vaccinations; at the height of the omicron surge, more than half of inpatients at HUP-Cedar Avenue were being treated for COVID.
“Our team of family medicine providers working at this new PHMC site are ideally prepared to care for patients of all ages and provide comprehensive care, from prevention, to diagnosis, to manage of chronic and complex illnesses,” said Richard Wender, MD, chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Penn Medicine. “They are unified by their commitment to caring for patients living in the community around the PHMC campus and making it easy for them to get the support they and their families need to live healthier lives at every stage.”
A key element of the campus is a robust community engagement plan that includes the launch of a community advisory board and regular and ongoing community outreach with stakeholders. This continued engagement between residents and campus program leaders will provide an informed approach to meeting current and future community needs, services, and supports for residents. Services in the facility are oriented toward meeting top issues identified through the most recent Community Health Needs Assessment for the area, which include substance and opioid use, behavioral health care, and access to affordable primary and preventive care.
“We’re grateful for PHMC and Penn Medicine for giving new life to this great campus,” said Stacey McCoy-Ndiaye, a member of the PHMC Public Health Campus on Cedar Community Advisory Board. “This vision has maintained hundreds of jobs, engaged with neighborhood organizations, and provided our community with access to quality health care through the opening of this new health center. We’re very optimistic about the future of the campus and look forward to our continued partnership.”
HUP-CEDAR AVENUE PATIENT INTERACTIONS*
5,850+
PATIENTS DURING INPATIENT & OBSERVATIONAL STAYS
37,000
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS
*Since March 2021
HUP-Cedar connects patients for specialty care in other parts of the Penn Medicine system.
“It’s a place that prioritizes taking care of our neighbors in the very best setting – closest to home, where they can count on our team to be their trusted medical home for every phase in their lives.” — Kevin B. Mahoney