Category: Health Care

  • Connolly Dermatology, a once fast-growing practice, faces N.J. lawsuit over unpaid wages

    Connolly Dermatology, a once fast-growing practice, faces N.J. lawsuit over unpaid wages

    A former Connolly Dermatology employee filed a lawsuit Thursday in Atlantic County, N.J., seeking unpaid wages for herself and other employees of the once fast-growing skin care practice.

    The plaintiff, Tracy Piccardo, worked in the Linwood office as a receptionist. More than 70 employees owed back pay had been identified, according to her lawsuit, filed in Superior Court by David R. Castellani. Piccardo did not immediately respond to a text seeking comment on the lawsuit.

    The practice’s owner, dermatologist Coyle S. Connolly, did not provide an on-the-record comment.. At its peak, Connolly had 30 locations, mostly in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It’s not clear if any of them are open now.

    Connolly’s practice stood out as Medicare’s top biller three consecutive years for a skin cancer treatment that saw a 40% reimbursement cut this year under the government insurance program.

    The lawsuit alleges violations of the state’s Wage Payment Law/Wage Theft Act, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.

    It seeks payment of back wages with interest, damages to be determined at trial, and attorney’s fees. The complaint had no estimate of how much money is at stake.

    Increasing financial pressure

    Piccardo told The Inquirer in May that the practice had been short on supplies, such as paper towels, toilet paper, paper toner for months.

    At that point, Piccardo and other employees hadn’t been paid for three weeks, she said at the time. That was the second payroll lapse this year, Piccardo and other employees told The Inquirer.

    The New Jersey Department of Labor said in May that it was investigating complaints about missed payrolls.

    At least two Connolly landlords have sued over unpaid rent since May.

    In early May, the owner of a Montgomeryville office sued to take possession of it after Connolly allegedly failed to pay rent in April.

    Last month, a landlord sued Connolly for unpaid rent on a property in Middle Township, N.J., that the practice had occupied since 2007. The lawsuit says Connolly was delinquent on more than $39,000 of rent.

  • Goodwill opens new medical equipment store in South Jersey

    Goodwill opens new medical equipment store in South Jersey

    The young woman with muscular dystrophy wanted a motorized scooter, but her health insurance would only cover a wheelchair.

    So she went to Goodwill’s only medical equipment store in South Jersey, where she found a dozen scooters to choose from. She test drove one she liked and bought it at a steep discount.

    “She burst into tears and said, `You have no idea what a difference this is going to make in my life,’” recalled Mark Boyd, Goodwill’s president and CEO.

    Goodwill Home Medical Equipment on Wednesday opened the region’s second location. The new store is located in Gloucester County, while its flagship, 16,000-square-foot retail store and warehouse is in Camden County.

    Both sell sanitized and refurbished medical equipment, including power and manual wheelchairs, hospital beds, canes, walkers, and lift and shower chairs. The stores also offer unopened medical supplies, like adult diapers and colostomy bags.

    “When people go to a Goodwill store, they don’t really know what they are looking for — they’re on a treasure hunt,” Boyd said. “But when you get sick or somebody in your family gets sick, all of the sudden you need a specific piece of equipment, and it can be quite daunting.”

    The nonprofit thrift organization began offering used medical equipment at roughly one-third the retail price about 15 years ago, Boyd said.

    “Financially, it’s a break-even operation, but it’s such a great service to the community,” he said, adding they cater to people with no or limited insurance, or high deductibles.

    The new store on Mantua Pike in Woodbury Heights will be open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The location on Benigno Boulevard in Bellmawr is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

    The two South Jersey stores are the only Goodwill Home Medical Equipment retail locations in the country, according to spokesperson Juli Lundberg.

    “The savings are so great that people do travel to us from New York City, the Philly burbs, and Jersey Shore,” Lundberg said. “We have had many other Goodwills across the country inquire about the concept.”

    People can donate their medical equipment and unopened supplies at any Goodwill location in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Donation sites and regular thrift stores can be found at https://www.goodwillhomemedical.org/store-locator. Goodwill staff also will pick up home medical equipment that is too large for a car, according to Lundberg.

  • Two more Philly-area oral and maxillofacial surgery practices have joined a New Jersey group

    Two more Philly-area oral and maxillofacial surgery practices have joined a New Jersey group

    MAX Surgical Specialty Management, a private-equity backed company consolidating oral and maxillofacial surgery groups in the Northeastern U.S., has acquired two more practices in the Philadelphia area.

    The latest deal, announced Friday, gives the Hackensack, N.J., firm 12 surgeons at 12 locations in Pennsylvania. Surgeon Jason M. Auerbach founded MAX in 2022 with private-equity backing and entered Pennsylvania two years later.

    The two newly acquired practices have six offices in Bucks and Chester Counties.

    Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons P.C. has three surgeons, and offices in Doylestown, Quakertown, Warminster, and Chalfont. Oral Associates of the Main Line has two surgeons and offices in Exton and Paoli.

    MAX did not disclose financial terms of the transactions.

    In addition to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, MAX has practices in Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. The company — a management services organization — is majority-owned by its physicians, Auerbach said.

    Oral and maxillofacial surgeons work at the crossroads of dentistry and medicine. Most have dental degrees, but some also have medical degrees. They remove wisdom teeth, install dental implants, repair facial traumas, and treat jaw injuries, among other services.

    North Jersey origins

    Auerbach founded Riverside Oral Surgery in Bergen County in 2007 and grew it to 12 locations before founding MAX with private equity partners. Part of his motivation was to create a home for independent physicians, Auerbach said in a May interview.

    The Philadelphia region still has a high concentration of independents, with strong patient demand. “It’s hard nowadays to be an independent oral-maxillofacial surgeon, in terms of the complexities in running a healthcare business,” Auerbach said.

    Robert Mogyoros, whose Greater Philadelphia Oral Surgery is in Elkins Park, said he valued his independence above all, but decided to look for a group to join after the business side had gotten too challenging.

    Physician groups get better prices from vendors, better deals with insurers, and have an upper hand in physician and employee recruitment, said Mogyoros, who became part of MAX last July.

    “What attracted me to MAX was that it’s doctor-driven and doctor-run,” he said in a May interview.

    Rothman and Kim Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, with offices in Northeast Philadelphia and Cinnaminson, was MAX’s first acquisition in Southeastern Pennsylvania. That deal also happened last year when MAX announced that it had borrowed $77 million to support growth.

    When doctors sell their practices to MAX, they typically invest about 30% of the value into MAX, Auerbach said. MAX’s outside investors are MedEquity Capital near Boston, RF Investment Partners in New York, and Kian Capital in Charlotte, N.C.

    Editor’s note: This article was update to correct the year when MAX made its first Pennsylvania acquisition.

  • Merakey USA, a large Montco-based human services provider, is expanding with Ohio acquisition

    Merakey USA, a large Montco-based human services provider, is expanding with Ohio acquisition

    Merakey USA, based in Lafayette Hill, is acquiring Boundless, an Ohio nonprofit that provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and behavioral health needs, in a deal that leaders of both organizations described this week as a model for their industry.

    “It’s the marriage of two financially stable organizations” that are preparing for turbulence in the human services sector, said Merakey CEO Joseph S. Martz. More typically human services deals happen because one nonprofit needs a financial rescue, as happened with Philadelphia’s Resources for Human Development in 2024.

    Merakey and Boundless planned to announce the news Thursday.

    Martz and the CEO of Boundless, Patrick Maynard, both said the size of the combined organization — more than $1 billion in revenue — would enable it to invest in the systems, technology, training, and workforce development needed to be financially sustainable.

    The deal, expected to close in July, will create an organization that supports 50,000 individuals and families annually in 12 states and employs 11,000 people.

    Joseph S. Martz is CEO of Merakey USA, which is acquiring Boundless, a human services provider based in Columbus, Ohio.Merakey USA

    The executives cited pressures from an expected change in how their organizations get paid. A shift is underway to payment for results rather than for straight volumes of services. Looming cuts to Medicaid over the next decade are also forcing human services providers to rethink how they operate.

    “We’re entering a time when resources are going to be a lot tighter, and I think organizations need to be thinking differently about how they approach that. We’re seeing some other pretty large consolidations,” said Chuck Ingoglia, CEO of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, a Washington nonprofit advocacy group.

    Origins of the Merakey-Boundless deal

    Stacy DiStefano, CEO of Consulting for Human Services, a Philadelphia-based adviser firm, introduced Martz and Maynard to each other in July 2024.

    That led to a series of conversations about issues the two organizations were spending money to solve and the realization: “Why don’t we just come together and use the combined resources of our organizations to solve that problem,” Martz said.

    Merakey and Boundless had already been growing through acquisitions, though Boundless has grown more dramatically. In the last seven years, the nonprofit made five acquisitions that helped increase its annual revenue to an expected $200 million this year from $20 million, Maynard said.

    “My goal was to create sustainability in a broken system where most of us are living off of Medicaid, which comes nowhere close to providing the resources that cover the costs,” Maynard said.

    Patrick Maynard is CEO of Boundless, a Ohio human services provider that is merging into Merakey USA, of Lafayette Hill.Boundless

    The added scale enabled Boundless to add healthcare and dentistry for its clients, but the Medicaid shortfall for those dental services is $75,000 a month, Maynard said. That kept Maynard looking for even bigger partners, like Merakey.

    Maynard cited Merakey’s expenditure of $18 million for Workday software, a system for human resources and financial management as an example of something Boundless could never afford. At $200 million in annual revenue, Boundless struggled to spend $2 million on a system for electronic health records, he said.

    A new structure

    Merakey, which started as the Northwest Center in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia in 1969, remains firmly rooted in Pennsylvania. The state is expected to account for more than half its $850 million in revenue for the fiscal year that ends this month, Martz said.

    In 2023, Merakey and Elwyn, a similar nonprofit based in Delaware County, announced a preliminary merger agreement, but a final deal did not happen.

    States where Merakey operates include Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A new division called Boundless Midwest, led by Maynard, will assume responsibility for Merakey’s operations in that region when the deal is done.

    Both boards have approved the transaction, which remains under review by the Ohio Attorney General.

    Martz said he expect Boundless to continue growing though acquisitions and the development of new programs with the support of Merakey.

    “We are going to be a big organization, but it’s really about being a better organization, about the quality of care that we provide,” Martz said. “If you’re not culturally aligned, bigger for bigger sake, just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  • Main Line Health and UnitedHealthcare have an ‘agreement in principle’ on new contract

    Main Line Health and UnitedHealthcare have an ‘agreement in principle’ on new contract

    Main Line Health and UnitedHealthcare have an “agreement in principle” on new contract and will extend the current contract until the new deal is completed, Main Line Health said Wednesday.

    Main Line’s contract with United was set to expire Tuesday, potentially disrupting care for 32,000 people who rely on Main Line doctors and have health insurance through United. The negotiations covered employer-sponsored plans and Medicare Advantage plans.

    “For nearly a year, Main Line Health worked diligently and in good faith to reach a responsible agreement — one that reflects the true cost and complexity of the high-quality care we deliver to this community every day. We are pleased to have reached this milestone, and our patients will experience no disruption to their care,“ Main Line said in an email.

    Main Line said the preliminary agreement relieves some of the administrative burden for doctors and patients. They include prior authorization delays, claim denials, and excessive audit activity, Main Line said.

    United, the nation’s largest health insurer, did not immediately provide a comment.

    The company based in Eden Prairie, Minn., this year failed to reach a new agreement with Jefferson Health’s Lehigh Valley Health Network for Medicare Advantage and employer plans. That outcome added to the worry for some patients that the same thing would happen in Philadelphia’s western suburbs, where Main Line is the leading provider of healthcare services.

  • CHOP names Joseph Mitchell to succeed Madeline Bell as CEO

    CHOP names Joseph Mitchell to succeed Madeline Bell as CEO

    The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia announced Tuesday that Joseph Mitchell will succeed Madeline Bell as CEO, when Bell retires Oct. 1 after a nearly 40-year career at the University City nonprofit.

    Bell, 65, became CHOP’s CEO in July 2015 following eight years as chief operating officer. During Bell’s tenure as CEO, CHOP more than doubled its annual revenue to more than $5 billion, added a hospital in King of Prussia, and started building a $2.6 billion patient tower on its main campus.

    Mitchell, 51, joined CHOP as president in April 2025 following a national search by CHOP’s board for Bell’s successor. In 2024, Bell had notified the board of her intention to retire, CHOP said.

    Before coming to Philadelphia, Mitchell was an executive vice president at Boston Children’s Hospital and president of Franciscan Children’s, a specialty hospital that Boston Children’s acquired in 2023.

    “The opportunity to lead an institution that is so iconic, impactful, and relevant, and has the opportunity to impact pediatrics and have an indelible imprint on kids and families was just irresistible,” Mitchell said in an interview this week. “It was an easy decision to move my family from Boston to Philadelphia.”

    CHOP is financially strong as Mitchell assumes the top job, but like other health systems it will face financial pressure from Medicaid cuts starting next year. The nonprofit has also been under fire from the Trump administration for its program that serves transgender youth.

    Mitchell trained as a urologist and worked at McKinsey & Co. as a consultant for 14 years before becoming CEO of Franciscan Children’s in 2021. He led a financial turnaround effort there and planned for a dramatic expansion of its campus in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood.

    “Joe brings a fresh perspective, a patient-first approach, and a strong strategic mindset,” Greg Davis, CHOP’s board chair, said in a news release. “We are confident he will guide CHOP into its next chapter with continued excellence and impact.”

    Bell’s tenure as CEO

    Bell, who started at CHOP as a nurse, oversaw substantial growth of CHOP’s footprint in West Philadelphia and on the eastern side of the Schuylkill with two research towers on Schuylkill Avenue near the South Street Bridge. CHOP also expanded its specialty-care network in the suburbs.

    CHOP became the pediatric partner for Main Line Health, Lehigh Valley Health Network, and ChristianaCare under Bell’s leadership. Such relationships with systems focused on adults help steer patients needing advanced specialties to CHOP. CHOP has long been Penn Medicine’s pediatric partner.

    Madeline Bell sat next to Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie last year during a ceremonial signing of documents for the Lurie family’s $50 million donation to create the Lurie Autism Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    In a prerecorded statement for staff and others viewed by The Inquirer in advance of the transitional announcement, Bell highlighted medical breakthroughs in cell and gene therapy during the past decade, as well as an expansion of behavioral health services. The Lurie Autism Institute, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP, launched last year thanks to a $50 million gift from Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and his family.

    Also last year, CHOP received its largest gift ever, $125 million from Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and his wife, Aileen. The new patient tower expected to open in 2028 will bear their name. In 2024, real estate investor Mitchell L. Morgan and his family donated $50 million toward the cost of one of the two research towers near the South Street Bridge.

    After retiring, Bell plans to continue as honorary consul of Spain for the Philadelphia region, a position she started last July, and hopes to remain on the board of Comcast-NBCUniversal, she said. Also, she will continue to support CHOP philanthropically and will remain a resource for Mitchell.

    CHOP is among the nation’s largest pediatric systems. It has 774 licensed hospital beds and employs 31,000 people. In the nine months that ended March 31, CHOP had 27,643 inpatient admissions and 1.3 million outpatient visits.

    Joe Mitchell’s priorities

    Since arriving in Philadelphia, Mitchell has immersed himself in getting to know CHOP, visiting primary care and specialty sites, as well as the hospitals, he said. The next step was broadening his responsibilities to the point where most of CHOP’s senior executives are now reporting to him.

    He said it’s too soon for him to address specific strategic moves, but emphasized that his priority is expanding access to care for children and families.

    Joseph Mitchell will succeed Madeline Bell as CHOP’s CEO this fall.Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

    That could get harder with Medicaid cuts looming next year. Nearly 50% of CHOP’s patients have the insurance for low-income families.

    “We’re doing everything we can to preserve access for families, to advocate for funding and resources at the state and federal level,” said Mitchell, who grew up in St. Louis in a family “that was deep into healthcare.”

    He moved to Boston for a residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. That’s where he met his wife, Vivian. They have two children, 17 and 14, and the entire family has fallen in love with Philadelphia, he said.

    “CHOP has embraced me, but Philadelphia as a community has really embraced us,” he said.

  • 1,200 union nurses at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital vote in favor of strike as bargaining continues

    1,200 union nurses at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital vote in favor of strike as bargaining continues

    Nurses at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital on Monday voted to authorize a strike if their bargaining committee calls for it as they negotiate a new union contract.

    The nurses want the contract to include solutions to staffing issues, as well as assurances that the hospital will not close departments. Earlier this year, Jefferson Health announced plans to close several pediatric clinics, including the Pediatric & Adolescent Ambulatory Center at Einstein Philadelphia at the end of this month.

    “Our patients deserve better than Jefferson is willing to deliver on its own. So do the nurses who care for them,” said Stephanie Stucka, a neuroscience nurse and co-president of Einstein Nurses United, in a statement.

    The Logan hospital has about 1,200 unionized nurses, whose contract expired over six weeks ago. They are members of Einstein Nurses United, a local of Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP).

    A little more than half the local’s members participated in the in-person vote, and 96% voted in favor of a strike, according to the union.

    The union also voted to authorize a strike during their last contract negotiations in 2023, and ultimately reached an agreement on a new contract without walking off the job.

    The union and hospital management continue to negotiate. Bargaining sessions are scheduled Tuesday, Wednesday and Monday, PASNAP spokesperson Megan Othersen Gorman said. If the committee does call for a strike, it must submit a 10-day notice under the National Labor Relations Act, she said.

    “This action risks putting disruption ahead of patients and community members,” a Jefferson spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. “While a strike is not imminent, this vote sends the wrong message at a time when our community needs stability, partnership, and a shared commitment to care — especially as Philadelphia prepares to host major national and global events that will place increased demand on our healthcare system.”

    The nurses’ union has proposed changes to improve staffing levels in most units, as well as contract language to protect staffing standards. It says Jefferson management has rejected these proposals.

    The nurses also want management to commit to keeping hospital safety measures put in place in recent years, including increased security and weapons screenings. The union also noted nurses’ concerns that benefits like paid time off and pension may be cut, and that the cost of their healthcare plans could rise.

    The hospital, formerly known as Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia, became part of Jefferson Health when it acquired the Einstein Healthcare Network in 2021.

  • Main Line Health’s Paoli Hospital will get a new, 108-bed patient tower in a major expansion

    Main Line Health’s Paoli Hospital will get a new, 108-bed patient tower in a major expansion

    Main Line Health is adding a 108-bed patient pavilion to its Paoli Hospital campus as part of a push to expand its capacity in Chester and Montgomery Counties, the nonprofit health system announced Tuesday.

    The building, expected to cost between $220 million and $240 million, is scheduled to open in early 2029. The project will expand Paoli’s capacity by more than 40%.

    Patient rooms will occupy three of five floors. They will be convertible from standard hospital rooms into rooms for intensive care. One floor will be used for diagnostics, such as radiology and perinatal testing. The roof will have a landing pad for helicopters.

    Beyond Paoli, Main Line is adding to its outpatient capacity in Downingtown, where a large facility that has township approval will include surgical care. The health system also has shared an early-stage proposal for outpatient offices in the Collegeville area, while it considers building there what would be its fifth hospital in Philadelphia’s western suburbs.

    “While many communities face declining access to care, Main Line Health is moving forward with optimism, investing in this region’s future and reaffirming our commitment to exceptional care where people live and work,” Main Line CEO Ed Jimenez said in the announcement.

    Paoli hospital currently has 261 licensed beds and employs nearly 1,400 people, according to Main Line. The hospital had 53,000 emergency department visits in the year that ended June 30, 2025. Main Line Health completed its last major expansion of Paoli Hospital in 2009, doubling the facility’s size.

    Like other Philadelphia-area health systems, Main Line has experienced tough times financially since the pandemic, which led to broadly higher costs in healthcare. In the nine months that ended March 31, Main Line had a $214,000 operating profit on $2.1 billion in revenue.

    More Main Line projects

    Separately, about 12 miles west of Paoli Hospital, in Downingtown, Main Line plans to open a large outpatient facility next summer. Main Line Health Downingtown, at the intersection of Lloyd and Manor Avenues, will cost $150 million and include a surgery center and substantial imaging capabilities.

    In central Montgomery County, as well, Main Line recently made a presentation to the Upper Providence Township Board of Supervisors about a major development in an area where the health system has seen substantial growth.

    The long term could see Main Line build a 108-bed hospital, but more immediately it needs to add outpatient office space in the Collegeville area, Main Line said.

  • Roundup of third-quarter financial results for Philly-area nonprofit health systems

    Half of the nonprofit health systems in Southeastern Pennsylvania had operating losses in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, the systems’ latest reports to municipal bond investors showed.

    All had strong revenue growth, with the exceptions of Redeemer Health and Tower Health, the two smallest systems by revenue. The gains at Jefferson Health and Penn Medicine benefited from acquisitions in fiscal 2025.

    The reports are not perfectly comparable because of variations in accounting practices.

    For example, Jefferson, Main Line Health, and ChristianaCare changed their depreciation rates, which reduced their expenses relative to competitors. Jefferson includes investment income in its revenue, boosting its results.

    Here’s a summary in order of revenue, from the region’s largest to smallest systems:

    Jefferson Health had a $252.6 million operating loss, which it attributed to severe winter weather, restructuring costs related to layoffs, and shortfalls in insurance reimbursement. Total revenue was just shy of $13 billion, up from $11.6 billion last year, which included only eight months of results from Lehigh Valley Health Network.

    The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s operating income in the nine months ended March 31 rose to $238 million, up sharply from $163 million in the same period a year ago. Total revenue for the nine months increased nearly 15% to $10.1 billion from $8.8 billion last year. This year’s results include Doylestown Health, which Penn acquired in April 2025.

    Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia had a $271 million operating profit in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, up from $195.8 million the year before. Total revenue rose 9% to $4.1 billion from $3.7 billion, thanks to strong gains in payments for hospital patients and unspecified other operating revenue.

    ChristianaCare reported $76.4 million in operating income, up from $57.4 million the year before. Its revenue climbed to $2.64 billion from $2.5 billion. This year’s results include a new micro-hospital that opened last summer in Chester County and five former Crozer Health outpatient facilities in Delaware County.

    Temple University Health System had an operating loss of $9.9 million, recovering largely from a $50.5 million loss in the first half of fiscal 2026. In the same period a year ago, Temple had a $10.9 million operating loss. The health system’s revenue was $2.6 billion, up from $2.3 billion last year.

    Main Line Health reported a small operating profit of $214,000, following a winter quarter setback. The four-hospital nonprofit system recorded an $8.5 million loss in the three months that ended March 31. Severe winter weather reduced patient visits, and the health system increased its reserves for medical malpractice expenses.

    Tower Health swung to a small operating loss of $3.6 million. During the same period a year ago, Tower had a $4.2 million operating profit. Revenue increased 1.6% to $1.6 billion.

    Steep losses continued at Redeemer Health, which reported a $29 million operating loss, compared to a $33 million loss last year. Redeemer’s total revenue rose by less than 1%, to $332 million. Redeemer owns Holy Redeemer Hospital, a 239-bed facility in Abington Township, Montgomery County, not far from Jefferson Abington Hospital.

  • Urban League of Greater Philadelphia is opening a free clinic in West Philadelphia

    Urban League of Greater Philadelphia is opening a free clinic in West Philadelphia

    The Urban League of Greater Philadelphia is opening a free clinic in West Philadelphia for people without health insurance. The $8 million Center for Well-Being will also offer workforce development, housing, and other services, Urban League officials announced Friday.

    The project at 5616 Chestnut St. sits in a neighborhood where three-quarters of the residents have low- or moderate-incomes and chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure are widespread.

    The clinic will be open to all Philadelphia residents and expects to serve residents of eastern Delaware County as well, Urban League president Darrin W. Anderson Sr. said at Friday’s kickoff event.

    “Across Philadelphia, too many residents continue to face barriers to good health, economic mobility, stable housing, quality jobs, and the resources needed to thrive. These challenges are deeply interconnected and require more than isolated solutions. They require a comprehensive community center approach,” Anderson said.

    The Urban League acquired the building in March for $1.6 million — attracted by the proximity to the Market-Frankford El and its parking lot, both of which make the building accessible to people outside the immediate neighborhood. With internal demolition about half finished, the center is expected to open in the first quarter of next year.

    U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans secured $1.2 million in seed money for the Urban League of Philadelphia’s Center for Well-Being in West Philadelphia. He spoke Friday at an event announcing the project.Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer

    The center — in a former Mercy Hospital of Philadelphia building — will employ around 30 people when it is fully operational, said Chetan Panda, vice president of community and economic impact for the Urban League.

    The hires for the 4,500-square-foot clinic with eight exam rooms will include a medical director this fall, he said.

    The project’s funding comes from a federal tax credit program designed to encourage private investment in economically distressed neighborhoods.

    Finanta, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution and credit union in Philadelphia, arranged the financing.

    Three years ago, U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, a Philadelphia Democrat retiring at the end of his current term, secured $1.2 million in seed money for the project.

    The role of free clinics

    The Urban League modeled its free clinic on those in Cherry Hill, Phoenixville, and West Chester. The city’s numerous free primary care clinics are only open periodically, as opposed to being open daily.

    Philadelphia has 110,000 people without insurance, according to Panda. Many of them earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, yet don’t have access to insurance through their jobs. Their jobs pay too poorly for them to afford insurance on the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange, Panda said in an interview Thursday.

    The number of uninsured people is expected to grow next year when new requirements for federal insurance program take effect.

    The clinic will refer people who have Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurance to the federal health clinic closest to them. In West Philadelphia, that could be Spectrum or PHMC at the former Mercy Hospital of Philadelphia.

    Urban League of Greater Philadelphia officials, politicians, and other supporters sign a beam that will be used in the the refurbishing of the the Urban League’s planned Center for Well-Being.Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer

    Federal clinics, known as federally qualified heath centers, have a sliding payment scale for people who don’t have insurance. “We see that a lot of uninsured people forgo care at the FQHCs because they don’t want to pay the sliding scale. That’s a cost burden,” Panda said

    When they need care, they often seek it in high-cost emergency departments, he said.

    Free clinics rely on nearby hospitals for some of their staff and for donated services, such as X-rays and other diagnostic tests. Penn Medicine will support the new clinic in West Philadelphia, just as it does existing federal health centers, said Richard Wender, Penn’s chair of family medicine, who was at Friday’s event.

    Penn also supports Community Volunteers in Medicine in Chester County through its Chester County Hospital.

    Correction: This story has been updated to correct Chetan Panda’s title to vice president, and with the correct name of Community Volunteers in Medicine in Chester County.