Newest CHOP facility is first of its kind

The brand-new facility housing the CHOP Care Network South Philadelphia primary care practice represents an innovation in children’s healthcare — and will serve an impressive number of families. How many patients a year are expected to be seen at this location?

  1. 5,000
  2. 8,000
  3. 15,000
  4. 35,000

Answer: 35,000

The primary care practice is in the South Philadelphia Community Health and Literacy Center at 1700 S. Broad St., a unique collaboration between CHOP, the City of Philadelphia and the Free Library of Philadelphia. It’s the first time pediatric and adult primary care practices have been co-located with a library and a recreation center.

CHOP initiated the partnership four years ago when it was outgrowing its space a few blocks away in South Philadelphia. At the same time, the City of Philadelphia needed to renovate its Health Center 2 and the South Philadelphia branch of the Free Library, which shared a building at Broad and Morris streets. And, the DiSilvestro Recreation Center at the back of the property was in dire need of a facelift.

Collectively, the three distinctive groups decided to temporarily relocate the City of Philadelphia services, raze the building and build a state-of-the-art, 96,000-square-foot facility that would be a health-literacy-recreation hub for everyone in the neighborhood.

The CHOP practice provides primary health and wellness services for children. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health Community Health Center 2 provides adult and pediatric care, women’s health, family planning, dental care and nutrition classes. The Free Library of Philadelphia South Philadelphia Branch offers free Wi-Fi, public computers, computer literacy classes, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, and child and adult literacy classes. The DiSilvestro Playground and Recreation Center has indoor and outdoor recreation spaces featuring a playground, basketball court, green space and a rain garden.

“This is what the future is — all of us working together to help our children’s lives be better,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said at the ribbon cutting in May.

Children’s Hospital President and CEO Madeline Bell said, “At CHOP, we talk a lot about breakthroughs — in cancer research, in patient care. I consider this facility — taking up an entire city block — a breakthrough.”