Mayor Parker signs bills expanding funding program to children’s hospitals, authorizing Northeast health center

The lobby of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children buzzed with excitement Thursday morning as physicians, nurses, and patients awaited Mayor Cherelle L. Parker to celebrate legislation that will bring millions of dollars to the financially struggling hospital and expand health services in North Philadelphia.

Parker visited St. Christopher’s for a ceremonial signing of a bill to include children’s hospitals and cancer hospitals in a program used to increase the amount of federal Medicaid money provided to city hospitals. She also signed a bill green lighting the construction of a new health center on the site of the former Friends Hospital.

“I see you and I appreciate you,” Parker said, pointing to staff and patients who looked down from hospital floors into the atrium-style lobby.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia Medicaid assessment program could expand to children’s and cancer hospitals

Under the Philadelphia Hospital Assessment, hospitals pay a small percentage of their net patient revenue into a pot of money, which then gets matched by federal dollars.

The city and state keep some of the money, and the rest is divided among hospitals who treat a large number of Medicaid patients. Participating Philadelphia hospitals got back more than $90 million from the program in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023.

Until now, children’s hospitals and specialty cancer centers have not been part of the program.

The details of the program are wonky, Parker acknowledged, but the impact will be significant, she said. The expansion of the program will benefit hospitals, patients, and taxpayers.

“The bill is a win, win, win,” Parker said. “The bill does not cost the city any money, and it is likely to bring money to the city of Philadelphia.”

St. Christopher’s has long struggled financially and faced bankruptcy after Hahnemann Hospital, with which it was affiliated, shut down. The hospital is jointly owned by Drexel University and Tower Health.

Nearly 80% of the hospital’s patients are covered by Medicaid, the state and federally funded health coverage program for low-income families and children with disabilities.

Hospital executives said they did not say exactly how much money St. Christopher’s stood to gain. But the additional funding will allow the hospital to continue improving its finances, said John Fry, out-going president of Drexel who joins Temple University on Nov. 1.

“This law will help to secure a brighter future where quality health care is accessible for all,” Fry said.

Parker also signed a zoning bill that allows the city to transform a Friends Hospital building on Roosevelt Boulevard into a new public health center.

The proposed demolition of the historic building stirred controversy in 2023, with some opposing the location because isn’t easily accessible via public transportation. Patients arriving by bus would have to cross the 12-lane boulevard to reach the center. The road is one of Philadelphia’s most dangerous.

» READ MORE: Northeast Philly is a health care desert. But its communities are fighting over a new health center.

The bill passed City Council after a series of community meetings, in which supporters defended the new center as a way to address the lack of health-care services in the Northeast community.

“There are limited health-care resources, and numerous barriers to care, in this community,” said Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who represents both St. Christopher’s and the new health center. “The new public health center is going to be a game-changer.”