Newswise — Thomas Jefferson University will unveil its newly transformed urban campus to the community during a dedication ceremony on Friday, October 19, 2007, at 11 a.m., just two years after university officials broke ground on the new "heart of the campus." The Dorrance H. Hamilton Building is one of the nation's first centers for interdisciplinary health instruction and the first medical school facility in Philadelphia to offer interdisciplinary learning and an integrated curriculum to medical, nursing, physical and occupational therapy students.
The $60 million project, located on Locust Street between South 10th and 11th streets, features the Dorrance H. Hamilton Building, the Sidney and Ethal Lubert Plaza and a 252-space underground garage.
"With the addition of the Hamilton Building we are creating an academic sense of community," said Robert L. Barchi, M.D., Ph.D., President of Thomas Jefferson University. "Students from diverse health specialties will work together, not as future individual practitioners, but as members of multidisciplinary teams in the best interest of the patient," said Dr. Barchi. The October 19 dedication will feature a ribbon cutting ceremony, an outdoor reception with food, music and giveaways on the Sidney and Ethal Lubert Plaza, and self-guided tours of the Hamilton Building. Following the reception, Darrell Kirch, M.D., President of the Association of American Medical Colleges, will present a lecture on interprofessional (interdisciplinary) team development in the new building's Connelly Auditorium.
Defining the Future of HealthcareThe six-story, state-of-the-art academic building will house a technologically-advanced auditorium, small and large group classrooms and a two-floor clinical skills center featuring virtual diagnostic and surgical suites. The facility is designed to enhance the medical training experience with real-world scenarios handled by multi-disciplinary medical teams.
With an entrance facing onto a grassy plaza where students and faculty can meet and interact informally, the building also features common meeting areas on each floor and a rooftop terrace and lounge for special events. The building's curved facade features large expanses of glass, one of the building's most important features, which carries through the entire ground floor, allowing people on the street to look into the lobby, through the building and out to the plaza.
The Sidney and Ethal Lubert Plaza is the beginning of a new campus plan which includes a sustainable, multifunctional urban design with a community-friendly approach. It is the first step toward integrating Jefferson's urban campus into the community. With lawns lined with shade trees, public art, and seating, it will give students, faculty, staff, and community members a place to gather and serve as the center of the academic quadrant of Jefferson's campus. The plaza will add 1.4 acres of open "green" space to Center City Philadelphia and received the Stormwater Best Management Practice Recognition Award from the Philadelphia Water Department.
The building was designed by the architectural firm Burt Hill and the plaza and urban landscape design is by Andropogon Associates, both of Philadelphia.
The Hamilton Building project is part of Jefferson's effort to help offset an anticipated shortage in the United States of possibly as many as 200,000 physicians by 2020 and to answer a call to medical schools throughout the nation to boost their enrollment over the next decade by 15 percent.
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has said medical schools need to start planning now to prevent the shortages that at least two studies have predicted. According to the AAMC, given the extended time it takes to educate and train tomorrow's doctors, efforts to increase enrollment must get underway as soon as possible to assure that the health care needs of the nation in 2015 and beyond are met.
Last year, Jefferson increased class size at the medical school to 255, up from 228, and expanded educational programs in related health professions areas, such as nursing, occupational therapy and physical therapy, to address an impending U.S. health professional shortage. In addition, Jefferson has established a School of Pharmacy that will accept its first class in the fall of 2008.
Generous Philanthropic SupportThe Hamilton Building, one of the first new educational complexes to open at a university or medical center in the Philadelphia area within the past year, was constructed through the generous support of Dorrance H. "Dodo" Hamilton, who donated $25 million to the project. Mrs. Hamilton's contribution to this project is the largest donation ever made to Jefferson. Among her many achievements, Mrs. Hamilton served as chair of Jefferson's capital campaign, the Jefferson 2000 Fund. To aid the campaign, Mrs. Hamilton presented Jefferson with a $5 million gift to the Department of Medicine to support laboratory renovations and two professorships.
Thomas Jefferson University trustee, Ira M. Lubert, made a gift to name the new plaza and green space adjacent to the Dorrance H. Hamilton Building as the Sidney and Ethal Lubert Plaza, in honor of his parents. Mr. Lubert is chairman and co-founder of Lubert-Adler, as well as LLR Equity Partners, Quaker BioVentures, LEM Mezzanine, Inc., Chrysalis Capital Partners, LBC Credit Partners, Rubenstein Partners Fund, and Patriot Capital Partners LP, which together constitute Independence Capital Partners
Within the new Dorrance H. Hamilton Building resides the Dr. Robert and Dorothy Rector Clinical Skills Center, the focus for innovative medical education. The center was developed with the aid of a $10 million bequest from the estate of Jefferson Medical College alumnus the late Dr. Robert (Class of 1948) and Dorothy Rector of Chambersburg, Pa.
The Rector Clinical Skills Center features mechanical patients, and a simulated operating room, medical surgical room and anesthesia lab to train students.
"Sophisticated tools such as intubation mannequins, joint injection models, and birthing simulators, will enable students to gain experience by working in virtual clinical situations that will prepare them for real life medicine," said Dr. Barchi.
An additional gift from the Connelly Foundation, headed by president Josephine Connelly Mandeville, who also serves as a trustee of Thomas Jefferson University, named the 300-seat Connelly Auditorium, located on the first floor of the Dorrance H. Hamilton Building.
For more information please visit http://www.Jefferson.edu/Hamilton
About Thomas Jefferson UniversityThomas Jefferson University is composed of three colleges--Jefferson Medical College, Jefferson College of Graduate Studies and Jefferson College of Health Professions. The three colleges enroll more than 2,600 future physicians, scientists and health care professionals. Founded in 1824, Jefferson Medical College is one of the largest private medical schools in the nation, with among the largest living alumni group. Thomas Jefferson University partners with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, its education and clinical care affiliate.
Editor's Note: Fact sheets available upon request
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