As for-profit companies bought community hospitals in recent decades, 13 of Philadelphia's 19 hospitals stopped delivering babies. The high cost of malpractice insurance and low reimbursement rates from insurance companies meant health systems weren't making enough money in labor and delivery.
But instead of getting out of the baby-delivery business, Temple Health is doubling down. It plans to open its Temple Women and Families Hospital in Juniata Park on Sep. 3 in hopes of reducing health disparities and high rates of maternal and infant mortality in Philadelphia.
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"We want this to be a national model for maternal health care," said Abhi Rastogi, executive vice president of Temple Health and president and CEO of Temple University Hospital.
Philadelphia's infant mortality rate is nearly 40% higher than the national rate. The city's maternal mortality rate of 27.4 deaths per 100,000 live births, is also significantly higher than the national rate of 18.8 per 100,000.
"That's about 10 more deaths, maternal mortalities, per 100,000, which is really not something that we can allow," Ragosti said.
And racial disparities persist. Between 2013 and 2018, Black women in Philadelphia made up 43% of births but accounted for 73% of pregnancy-related deaths.
Temple Women's HospitalAidan Gallo/For PhillyVoice
The new Temple Women and Families Hospital opens Sept. 3. Temple Health hopes the facility will help reduce health disparities and high rates of maternal and infant mortality in Philadelphia.
Temple Women and Families Hospital seeks to address these disparities by offering easy access to high-quality obstetrical and family medical services through wrap-around services and a family-centered approach. Community health workers will shepherd moms and families from their first visit until a year after delivery to help address issues such as postpartum depression. Digital technology will help with patient education and logistics, including an app that allows women to track appointments and share fetal ultrasound pictures. Large delivery rooms and private rooms for moms and babies – with couches – will enable partners and extended families to spend as much time as they want at the hospital during and after birth.
Temple had planned to move all labor and delivery care to the new hospital as of July 22, but the opening of Temple Women and Families Hospital was postponed to provide more training for staff. Some doctors and nurses had raised concerns that emergency staffers at Temple's main hospital would struggle to handle labor and delivery emergencies without the presence of specialists.
"We are committed to dedicating more time to practice simulations and education to everyone involved, and our decision to move the opening date to Wednesday, September 3rd was related to those additional training needs," Dr.Claire Raab, president and CEO of Temple Faculty Physicians, said in a statement."This additional time will ensure that every process is streamlined, efficient, and perfectly aligned for patient safety and optimal care.”
Temple Health bought the site at 1331 E. Wyoming Ave., formerly a Cancer Treatment Centers of America location, for $12 million in 2021 and has invested $64 million in renovationsbased on community needs. Stakeholders said they wanted better access, improved care and patient experiences, and better infrastructure when it came to maternity and family care, Rastogi said.
About 70% of Temple Health's patients – more than 85% of whom receive publicly-funded insurance through Medicaid or Medicare – live near the new hospital. "So we're bringing care closer to them," Ragosti said.
Temple Women's HospitalAidan Gallo/For PhillyVoice
Temple Women and Families Hospital has 13 labor and delivery rooms, 41 neonatal ICU beds and 32 maternity beds. Above, a maternity bed.
The hospital will provide maternity and labor and delivery services as well as a state-of-the art neonatal intensive care unit. The hospital will have private rooms for mothers and families, 13 labor and delivery rooms, 41 neonatal ICU beds and 32 maternity beds. Outpatient services in obstetrics/gynecology began at the hospital began in 2023, and family medicine and pediatrics a year ago. Same-day surgeries, including hand surgery, plastic surgery and gynecological surgery started in May.
About 2,000 women currently deliver their babies at Temple University Hospital on North Broad. A plan will be in place to deal with labor and delivery emergencies at Temple University Hospital after birthing care shifts over to Temple Women and Families Hospital, a Temple Health spokesperson said in an email.
Temple hopes to retain the additional 3,000 women who receive prenatal care through Temple Health and to attract other families from all over the city, said Sharon Kurfuerst, executive director of Temple Women and Families Hospital.
"We didn't just design and build for today's volume," Kurfuerst said. "We really took a futuristic look at what the community is going to need, both today and in the future, and have really designed to allow for that expansion, not just in terms of numbers, but also in terms of additional clinical and social programming. So as the community continues to inform us about what their ongoing needs are, we'll be able to pivot and grow to meet those."
Temple received $38 million in grant funding for the hospital, with significant gifts made by the William Penn Foundation and Percival Roberts, Jr. Trust.