In addition to providing patient-focused care, the Perelman Center is designed to anticipate and respond to future trends in medicine. Demographic studies indicate a continuing rise in the number of people suffering from cancer and cardiovascular disease. These two specialties urgently require innovative treatment models and they constitute two of the three main service areas of the Perelman Center. Medical advances have resulted in additional therapies that can be administered without overnight hospital stays. The Perelman Center accommodates the rapid increase in outpatient surgery and house the most advanced medical technology available.
The Perelman Center's operating rooms for outpatient surgery measure 600 square feet each — 30 percent larger than the dimensions required by code — providing maximum flexibility to accommodate ever-changing technologies.
In addition to providing access to world-class medical care for Philadelphia's residents, the new center also improves the economic health of the city by creating new jobs. 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.
University of Pennsylvania alumnus Raymond G. Perelman and his wife, Ruth, pledged $25 million to name the Center for Advanced Medicine. This donation to help finance the construction and completion of the facility continues a tradition of gracious giving by the Perelman's. Mr. Perelman is a PENN Medicine trustee and a 1940 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.