Jefferson Defines the Future of Health Care with the Honickman Center

The Honickman Center is Jefferson's new 19-story care facility where technology and compassion intersect

PHILADELPHIA, March 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Jefferson Health announces that the construction of the state-of-the-art, patient-focused Honickman Center is complete. The facility will welcome patients starting on April 15, 2024.

"The Honickman Center stands as our flagship medical facility in Center City and as the epicenter of a more than $1 billion urban development project in East Market. The Honickman Center will offer convenient and centralized access to a broad range of signature medical specialties. Every detail — from our sunlit, healing spaces and calming design elements to the pet-friendly areas that welcome patients with service animals— has been designed to create an exceptional patient and consumer experience," said Joseph Cacchione, MD, CEO, Jefferson.   

Spanning approximately 462,000 square feet, the Honickman Center includes more than 300 exam rooms, 58 infusion chairs, ten operating rooms, six endoscopy rooms, an onsite lab, a pharmacy, radiology services, and more. The building is an innovative, multi-specialty outpatient care center that makes the most of each patient's healthcare experience. It offers accessibility for patients needing additional support and quiet spaces with sensory-friendly furniture designed with neurodiverse patients in mind.

"We're extremely grateful to the Honickman family for their generosity and to the more than 2,500 donors to this project, which is going to have an immeasurably positive impact on the community," added Cacchione. "Opening this facility during our Bicentennial makes it even more special, as we work to create our third century." 

The Honickman Center enables Jefferson to provide patients and clinicians with a seamless care experience. Patients will have the ability to have multiple appointments in one day, in one facility. Through digital whiteboards, a Jefferson-developed proprietary technology, expert clinicians at distant sites can join appointments on the fly so patients can see a few of their doctors at once through interactive technology, providing a unique high-touch experience for patients where their needs are always put first. Additionally, these digital whiteboards allow patients to invite their relatives to join appointments virtually.    

"The Honickman Center was truly designed by patients for patients. We spoke with hundreds of patients and community members who shared their perspectives and informed our design from concept through completion," said Baligh R. Yehia, MD, MPP, MSc, FACP, President, Jefferson Health.  "The Honickman Center also represents the future of healthcare by blending physical and virtual care while enhancing the human interaction between a patient and their care provider."

When the facility is fully open later this spring, patients will have access to several named care centers, including:   

• Honickman Breast Imaging Center
• Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center
• Vickie & Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience
• Nicoletti Kidney Transplant Center
• Jefferson Heart and Vascular Institute
• Jefferson Transplant Institute
• Jane and Leonard Korman Respiratory Institute – Jefferson Health and National Jewish Health

In addition, the Honickman Center will house the following specialty practices:

• Gastroenterology & Hepatology
• General surgery
• Hematology
• Infectious Diseases
• Nephrology
• Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
• Perioperative Optimization
• Rheumatology
• Urology

The Honickman Center also displays multiple art installations, with a modern yet calming atmosphere for patients. The building stands among the most technologically advanced, patient-friendly, and highest-quality medical facilities in the United States.  

Among the numerous art installations aimed at transforming the patient experience at the Honickman Center are projects from students at the Thomas Jefferson University Kanbar College of Design, Engineering, and Commerce as well as the "Liquid Horizons" project which comprises nine pieces of immersive art, installed in different waiting rooms. In addition, a group of industrial-design students from the university teamed up with the Jefferson Center for Autism and Neurodiversity (JeffCAN) to research, conceptualize, and create forward-thinking, neurodiverse-friendly seating. Sixty chairs – designed to help those with autism engage with the world – will be installed at the Honickman Center before its first patients arrive.

"The Honickman Center not only highlights Jefferson's two centuries of deep-rooted history in Philadelphia but also amplifies our unwavering pledge to deliver uncompromising care to those who need it most. Today's ceremony celebrates over a decade of meticulous planning and relentless dedication from a team of committed experts, all of whom have contributed significantly to turning this vision into reality," said Patricia D. Wellenbach, Board Chair, Jefferson.

Jefferson partnered with National Real Estate Development, LLC to conceptualize and develop the Honickman Center project. Designed by Ennead Architects, the building deftly integrates into the dense urban neighborhood while introducing a curved glass façade which draws inspiration from Philadelphia's history of textile production and establishes an innovative new architectural identity. Stantec oversaw the interior design of the clinical floors while BLTa of Philadelphia was responsible for the design of the below-grade garage and the site improvements for the project. The building marks the final phase of National Development's more than $1 billion East Market development, which has revitalized the East Market Street corridor into an active and vibrant destination and has been a catalyst for the redevelopment of Center City. 

The Honickman Center construction generated approximately $772 million in economic impact in Philadelphia, supporting 4,120 jobs over the four-year period of construction (with almost 1,500,000 person-hours invested in the process) and $25 million in tax and fee revenue to the City of Philadelphia.  

Photos are available HERE.

About Jefferson
Nationally ranked, Jefferson, which is principally located in the greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey, is reimagining health care and higher education to create unparalleled value. Jefferson is more than 42,000 people strong, dedicated to providing the highest-quality, compassionate clinical care for patients; making our communities healthier and stronger; preparing tomorrow's professional leaders for 21st-century careers; and creating new knowledge through basic/programmatic, clinical and applied research. Thomas Jefferson University, home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Jefferson College of Nursing, and the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, dates back to 1824 and today comprises 10 colleges and three schools offering 200+ undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 8,300 students. Jefferson Health, nationally ranked as one of the top healthcare systems in the country and the largest provider in the Philadelphia area, serves patients through millions of encounters each year at 17 hospitals and more than 160 outpatient and urgent care locations throughout the region. Jefferson Health Plans is a not-for-profit managed health care organization providing a broad range of health coverage options in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for more than 35 years.  

SOURCE Jefferson