Philadelphia InqSueiereLrIG-HTNSJoEndBit3ion, 2016-11-27 Cropped page Page: B1 suc
76e
Cherry Hill’s hospital gets updated
B
C herry Hill was still called Delaware Aut
Township when plans for a “complete had
modern general hospital” at Chapel Ave- ly b
nue and Cooper Landing Road were an-
“
nounced in the late 1950s. said
bas
Long since acquired and firm
As
expanded by Kennedy Cam
T
lion
ing
hom
Health, the community hospi-
tal that opened in 1961 is be-
ing transformed by a
$250 million construction
project and a pending merg-
er with Philadelphia’s Jeffer-
son Health.
KEVIN RIORDAN “There will be a total re-
branding of this campus,”
"@Inqkriordan says Joseph W. Devine, presi-
dent and CEO of Kennedy
Health.
Planning for the project predates the merg-
er and “has been a long time coming,” he
says, adding, “For us, it will be a real state-
ment.”
Indeed, with new hospitals rising in nearby
suburbs and urban health systems like Lour-
Touring the construction site are Joseph W. Devine (left), Kennedy Health CEO des and Penn opening stylish new outpatient
and president, and project manager Ryan Spotts. DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer
See HOSPITAL on B9
Copyright 2016 Olive Software 2016-11-29 10:16:38
Philadelphia Inquirer - NJ Edition, 11/27/2016 Cropped page Page: B9
PHILLY.COM | C SOUTH JERSEY SUNDAY, NOV. 27, 2016 | THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | B9
A rendering of the updated Kennedy Health System campus in Cherry
Hill. Work on the first phase — including a seven-story parking garage
and a 100,000-square-foot medical office building — began last fall.
A welder works at the Kennedy Health System project. New buildings
are being connected to existing structures, some of which are being
renovated. Phase one is 70 percent complete. DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer
COMMENTARY | BY KEVIN RIORDAN
Cherry Hill’s first, only hospital gets $250M lift
HOSPITAL from B1 hard hats and fluorescent green complex (nearly 200 patient of Jefferson, we will be a major Devine notes that this hexago-
facilities on Route 70 in Cherry vests for a site tour. beds and 1,200 employees), part of the fabric” of health care nal, space-age structure was de-
Hill, Kennedy’s utilitarian com- next door to Cherry Hill West in South Jersey, says Stephen K. signed by a Floridian whose spe-
plex on the township’s west side Work on the first phase — a High School, and within a Klasko, president and CEO of cialty was graphics, not architec-
was overdue for a reboot. seven-story parking garage, a densely developed section of Jefferson Health. ture.
100,000-square-foot medical of- the township.
Successive Cherry Hill mayors fice building, a dramatic lobby “A lot of things that Kennedy “We’re creating a new image,
“would ask me, ‘So when are you and entrance featuring panels of Relocation of utility poles also has done have been best in with natural light coming inside
going to do Cherry Hill?’ ” De- Italian stone — began in Septem- meant relocating a portion of class,” Klasko adds. “This merg- and a more open, healing envi-
vine, a three-decade Kennedy ber 2015. the eruv — an enclosure that ac- er would not happen if Kennedy ronment,” Lisa Dutterer,
management veteran, recalls. commodates the needs of Ortho- hadn’t gone so far.” Kennedy’s chief administrative
The job “is about 70 percent dox Jews. officer, says.
“The new campus will fit in with complete,” says Ryan Spotts, se- Although the Kennedy name
this community,” he adds. “It will nior project manager for the “We are nothing but grateful will be retained in some form, “That existing medical office
be truly Cherry Hill-worthy.” Norwood Co., the Malvern firm and appreciative to Kennedy for and the mid-1960s patient tower building is not very welcoming.
overseeing the work. helping us maintain our Sabbath will be renovated to provide pri- It does not provide easy access
Says Mayor Chuck Cahn: observance,” says Rabbi vate rooms, one signature com- or convenience for patients,”
“We’re very excited about it. The What’s being done is not only Ephraim Epstein, of the nearby ponent of the Cherry Hill cam- she adds.
investment is tremendous, and cosmetic; Kennedy is connect- Congregation Sons of Israel. pus will not survive.
[the new Kennedy] will be a mar- ing new buildings to existing “And it’s dark in there.”
quee facility.” structures, some of which are be- Devine expects New Jersey That would be the current medi-
ing renovated. regulators will sign off on the cal office building, which is near [email protected]
On a recent blustery morning, merger by mid-2017. Chapel Avenue but might be more ^856-779-3845 "@inqkriordan
Devine and I are among a half- This is being accomplished at home on a Mad Men set. >www.philly.com/blinq
dozen people donning white on an already busy medical “With Kennedy as a major hub
The doctor is in
on Montco board
By Laura McCrystal because in my book if no-
STAFF WRITER body died, it’s really not that
During two decades as a serious,” she said.
delivery-room anesthesiol- Though she has long been
ogist, Valerie Arkoosh politically active, serving on
heard not just medical con- the Board of Commission-
cerns from patients but ers is Arkoosh’s first elected
their worries about life. position.
From mothers afraid to The Springfield Township
let their children play out- resident has a master’s de-
side, or who lived in neigh- gree in public health. Her
borhoods with no grocery career as a practicing physi-
stores as obesity rates cian included chairing the
were on the rise. From fa- anesthesiology department
thers worried they would at Drexel University’s medi-
lose their jobs if they took cal school and working as a
off to witness the birth of professor at the University
their child. From parents of Pennsylvania’s Perelman
who worked 40 hours a School of Medicine.
week but increasingly She joined the board of
struggled to make ends the National Physicians Alli-
meet. ance in 2007, and spent time
Her ability to help, she in Washington in that role
knew, had limits. advocating for health-care
Copyriiegt“yWhahntedn2sytr0oeus1sli6voef tuOhnadltiesvroaretn,xitS- orfetfIownrm2a0.r11e, she joined Sha- 11/29/2016 10:20:11 AM
affects your health in ways piro’s transition team as