Jefferson Health

Jefferson Health
Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals Inc.
Entrance to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital on South 11th Street.
Geography
Location	Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates	Coordinates: 39°56′59″N 75°09′26″W / 39.949691°N 75.157124°W / 39.949691; -75.157124
Organization
Care system	Non-Profit
Hospital type	Teaching hospitals; primary, secondary, and tertiary care centers; ambulatory clinics
Affiliated university	Thomas Jefferson University
Services
Emergency department	Level I Trauma Center
Beds	957[1]
History
Founded	1825[2]
Links
Website	http://hospitals.jefferson.edu
Lists	Hospitals in Pennsylvania

Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals Inc, branded as Jefferson Health, is a regional health system whose flagship hospital is Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City, Philadelphia. The health system's hospitals serve as the teaching hospitals of Thomas Jefferson University. Other hospitals in the system include Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, Methodist Hospital in South Philadelphia, Abington Memorial Hospital in the northern suburb of Abington, the three hospitals and various clinics of Aria Health in Northeast Philadelphia and Lower Bucks County, and now Kennedy Health facilities in southern New Jersey including hospitals in Washington Township and Cherry Hill.^[3]

History

Formed in 1825 as the Infirmary of the Jefferson Medical College, the predecessor of the Hospital of Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital serves patients in Philadelphia and the surrounding communities in the Delaware Valley and southern New Jersey.

The Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals system has 957 licensed acute care beds. Services are provided at five locations — the main hospital facility and Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, both in Center City Philadelphia; Methodist Hospital in South Philadelphia; Jefferson at the Navy Yard, just past the sports complex; and Jefferson-Voorhees in South Jersey.

Formerly a division of Thomas Jefferson University, the Hospital was separated from the University to become a founding member of the Jefferson Health system in 1995. The Hospital merged with Methodist Hospital as a division of Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in 1996.^[4] In March 2014, the Jefferson Health System was dissolved "in order for (TJUH) to move forward" and "be nimble and agile, but also not be constrained by a corporate relationship that in some respects put some limits on what we could do," according to Stephen K. Klasko, Jefferson's President and Chief Executive of both Thomas Jefferson University and the parent Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals Inc.^[5]

For fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals had 46,386 admissions; 475,031 outpatient visits and 118,590 emergency room visits. The organization had 7,200 employees, 977 house staff, 1,176 medical staff and 1,848 full-time registered nurses.^[6] The Hospitals report total patient revenue (2012) of $4,784,113,024.^[7] In May 2015 Abington Health and Jefferson merged and formed Abington Jefferson Health.^[8]

Departments and services

Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals provides medical services across more than 200 specialized centers, programs, departments and divisions.^[9]

The organization features eight "Premier Programs" focused on:

• Bones and Joints
• Digestive Diseases
• Heart and Vascular
• Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience
• Kimmel Cancer Center
• Surgical Services
• Transplantation
• Women's Health Services

Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals has an Office of Human Research/Division of Clinical Trials Support to assist with the formal clinical trials in which the organization is involved.^[10]

Five of the seven physicians on the staff of the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team are doctors at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals: Dr. Peter DeLuca (Head Team Physician and orthopedist), Dr. Paul Marchetto (Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery), Dr. Alexander Vaccaro (Professor and Attending surgeon of Orthopedics and Neurosurgery), Dr. Matthew Pepe (assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery), Dr. Chris Dodson (sports medicine surgeon at the Rothman institute and assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery).^[11]

Awards and recognition

• In 2013-2014, U.S. News & World Report ranked Jefferson University Hospital as the 17th Best Hospital in the country. In addition, Jefferson was ranked as the 7th best hospital in the nation for orthopedics, 14th best for pulmonology, 16th best for rehabilitation, 17th best for cancer, 18th best for diabetes & endocrinology, 19th best for ear, nose & throat and 20th best for urology. U.S. News also named Jefferson as among the best within the Philadelphia region in five other specialties: Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Gynecology, Nephrology, Neurology & Neurosurgery.^[12]
• In 2009, Jefferson University Hospital was granted MAGNET® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC).^[13]
• In 2013, Philadelphia named 75 Jefferson physicians to their annual "top docs" list.^[14]

Medical milestones and innovations

• In 1826, Franklin Bache, a professor of chemistry at Thomas Jefferson University, became the first researcher in the United States to conduct organized studies using acupuncture therapy.^[15]
• In 1881, William Thomson invented a standard test for color blindness.^[16]
• Jacob da Silva Solis-Cohen performed the first successful laryngotomy for vocal cord cancer in 1868. A laryngotomy is a procedure which involves cutting into the larynx in order to assist respiration when the upper part of the airway has been restricted.^[17]
• Frank H. Krusen is regarded as the “father” of the physical medicine and rehabilitation field - a branch of medicine that aims to restore functional ability and quality of life to those with physical deficiencies or disabilities.^[18]
• John H. Gibbon Jr. conceived and developed the world’s first successful heart-lung machine in 1953. The heart-lung machine is a device that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery. He also performed multiple open heart surgeries which revolutionized heart surgery in the twentieth century.^[19]
• George J. Haupt invented the Jefferson Ventilator in 1957 while a resident at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Haupt developed and patented the mechanical ventilator used during surgeries to inflate the patient's lungs and discharge carbon dioxide accumulated in the blood because the patient could not exhale.^[20]
• In 1965, Barry B. Goldberg, a professor of Radiology at Jefferson Medical College, was deemed a pioneer in ultrasound technology. Ultrasound imaging is a technique that enables the viewing of several body structures including tendons, muscles, joints, and internal organs.^[21]
• In 1972, Norman Lasker, a professor of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College, invented the Jefferson Cycler—the first at-home self-treatment device for dialysis patients. Dialysis is the process of removing waste and excess water from the blood and is used as an artificial replacement for lost kidney function.^[22]
• Charles Klieman developed the modern surgical stapler in 1982, as well as the first articulating laparoscopic instrument in 1986. These are scissors that allow surgeons to choose an extremely precise angle of cut.^[23]
• On March 19, 2007, Drs. Scott Silvestry and Linda Bogar were the first in Pennsylvania to implant the Jarvik 2000® Heart Assist System to save the life of a cardiac patient.^[24]

Deaths

• George Franklin Pawling (1879-1954).^[25]
• Edward Walter Clark, Jr. (1857-1946).^[26]

References

External links

• Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
• Jefferson Health System