About two decades ago, Ralph Muller, then CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, tasked Kevin B. Mahoney with helping to create the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine on the site of the former Philadelphia Civic Center. Mahoney recalled his wife’s reaction at the time: “You can’t hang a picture up straight,” she said. “How could you possibly do it?”
Mahoney explained that he learned through listening and curiosity, sharing this lesson with staff: “You don’t have to accept things the way they’ve always been. Build them the way you want them to be. Use your intellectual curiosity and your vision to make the world that our patients need.”
Reflecting on nearly 30 years at Penn Medicine, Mahoney described involvement in various design projects as not just construction but as part of what he calls “the architecture of care.” He said each project aligns with Penn Medicine’s belief that people should access treatment when and where needed. He added that while advanced facilities are important, modern health care is increasingly about connecting entire communities.
“When we think of our plans as the architecture of care, it means we’re growing in ways that ensure entire regions are supported by doctors, nurses, and other clinicians and that treatments are always within reach,” Mahoney stated.
Mahoney noted challenges in U.S. health care delivery such as long waits and travel burdens for patients. In response, Penn Medicine has invested in hospitals, outpatient centers, telehealth services, and home care options to increase accessibility.
He referenced recent hospital closures nationwide and their impact on communities—citing Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital’s shutdowns in Delaware County as examples—and outlined Penn Medicine’s response: launching a family medicine residency program earlier than planned to accommodate 26 displaced physicians-in-training.
“The move will increase the number of primary care physicians in the county. Residents will complete their inpatient training at Chester County Hospital and provide outpatient care at two locations that serve approximately 24,000 patients annually. These sites provide comprehensive services, including pediatrics, women’s health, adult medicine, geriatrics, and more,” according to Mahoney.
Penn Medicine also hired 14 former Crozer Health residents specializing in internal medicine or obstetrics and gynecology for positions at its hospitals in Philadelphia.
The institution recently expanded by welcoming Doylestown Health into its system and beginning construction on Penn Medicine Montgomeryville—a multispecialty outpatient center scheduled to open in 2027—which will extend clinical expertise into Montgomery and Bucks counties through a new facility serving local communities (https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2024/january/penn-medicine-announces-plans-for-new-outpatient-facility-in-montgomery-county).
For cancer treatment requiring extended therapy periods—and thus minimizing patient travel—Penn Medicine is expanding the Abramson Cancer Center in Princeton with a $401 million development featuring a new facility on its Plainsboro campus (https://www.pennmedicine.org/cancer/about-our-programs/princeton-cancer-center). The organization is also adding another proton therapy location at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
Mahoney emphasized designing spaces that support patient journeys by providing welcoming environments filled with natural light and art when possible. “Our goal is to design settings where doctors, nurses, and others can do their best work and build places that foster comfort and nurture resilience,” he said.
He concluded: “At Penn Medicine, when we speak of the architecture of care, we mean more than facilities or form. We mean comfort and reassurance. We mean access and ease. We mean treatment that isn’t delivered by chance but rather cultivated by design, driven by empathy, and reimagined as what care can and should be: innovative, thoughtful, and purpose-driven.”
