>From today's DP
Maybe they should build this into the original house at 40th & Pine -- an
obvious use that doesn't need an 11-story monstrosity, a Byzantine valet
parking service, excessive noise and traffic, etc.
Not that we can expect the Nobel Prize winners in the Penn Real Estate Dept
to know (or give a damn) about what's going on at the University in general
when they're too busy covering up for their own poor judgement.
Al Krigman
reminding you that you read it first, here, on the popu-list
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Penn Med to build 'home away from home' for families of transplant patients
House at 39th and Spruce will provide accommodations, education, support
Colin Kavanaugh
Media Credit: David Hilbert/DP Senior Photographer
Penn Medicine breaks ground on the Clyde F. Barker Transplant House, which
will focus on easing the economic and emotional stress of transplant patients
and families. The House is designed to function like the Ronald McDonald
House.
Thanksgiving isn't until tomorrow, but Penn Medicine is already in the
spirit of giving.
Last night, Penn Med unveiled the Clyde F. Barker Transplant House, a "home
away from home" for transplant patients' families during and after transplant
surgeries.
"The transplant is one of the most graphic acts of giving," said Ralph
Muller, chief executive officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health
System.
"And this facility is very important to the overall well-being" of our
patients and their families.
The facility, set to be built at 3930 Spruce St. on Penn's campus, offers a
less expensive - and more convenient - housing option for families already
strapped with medical costs.
Since the project costs more than $2 million, the event also recognized the
support of critical donors.
Muller noted that more than 400 organ transplants take place at the Penn
Transplant Institute each year, with more than 6,000 transplants completed in
the 40-year history of the program.
Now, Penn's transplant facility is considered one of the best - and busiest
- in the country.
One-third of Penn transplant patients live more than 50 miles away, said
Roger Reina, the senior major gifts officer for the Penn Medicine Development
office.
However, organ patients must typically return to the hospital dozens of
times after the surgery for follow-up care, putting a strain on families and
patients.
"That's a significant hardship economically and emotionally to travel that
distance and support a patient," Reina said.
Reina said the facility will have two main functions.
"It will provide affordable accommodations for families, and it will have
ongoing opportunities for patient education and support," he said.
He added that the facility will have its own social coordinators and nurses
on staff to provide for families.
A Penn Med press release said the house will also have a 24-hour shuttle to
the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Abraham Shaked, director of the Penn Transplant Institute, told the story of
a first-year Penn student, who, more than a decade ago, required a liver
transplant.
But circumstances prevented her mother from staying nearby.
"This will offer support for families who need help," Shaked said. "And our
program's growth tells you how much we need this kind of place."
Speakers at the event compared the new transplant house to the Ronald
McDonald House at 39th and Chestnut streets, which offers living arrangements
for
families of medical patients undergoing long-term treatment.
The facility is being named in honor of Clyde Barker, who performed the
first living donor transplant 43 years ago. His patients from that surgery,
Joseph and Howard Mehl, also attended.
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