This Veterans Day, let’s imagine a veterans health and wellness village in Center City

As a physician who is concerned with health equity, and who has worked in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in four different cities, I am aware of how difficult it can be for veterans to access the care they need. In Philadelphia, existing VA medical centers and outpatient clinics are aging and struggling to meet their surging demand.

But imagine if the dormant Hahnemann University Hospital properties in Center City were modernized and repurposed into a veterans health and wellness village that focused on comprehensive health care for veterans.

The wellness village would align with the VA’s whole health approach to health care, integrating a wide range of services including inpatient medicine and surgery, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation, and mental health services. Such colocation of resources would be cost-effective and would promote care coordination.

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A recent research study from Carnegie Mellon and Stanford suggests that health outcomes for veterans are better when veterans are cared for in a facility dedicated to them specifically. By including supportive temporary housing and networking services for veterans experiencing homelessness, the wellness village would also address the factors beyond clinical care that impact health, including economic stability, education, and social connection.

A veterans wellness village at the Hahnemann location on Broad and Vine Streets would give veterans from the entire region easy access to the health resources it provided based on the already existing infrastructure of public transportation and the convergence of I-76 and I-95 at the location.

The village would also be an economic boon for the city. New on-location short-term and long-term jobs would be created at all levels. The village would repurpose the underutilized resources of the bankrupt properties and could spark a post-pandemic revitalization of Center City.

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This innovative model should be governed collaboratively by the multiple distinguished health-care institutions of our city. When Philadelphia’s VA was built 75 years ago, it was affiliated with several different medical schools. Over time, its proximity to the University of Pennsylvania led to the elimination of ties with other schools. However, the health-care experience for veterans throughout the tristate region could be improved if the neighborhood hospitals and academic centers at which veterans were already present for care were directly engaged in the governance of the Center City wellness village.

These institutional relationships would expedite getting our veterans to “soonest and best care.”

Veterans Day reminds us of the sacrifices of our veterans.

Our academic centers and affiliated hospitals know how to work together. In 2019, they collaborated to rescue the hundreds of medical trainees whose education was disrupted by the Hahnemann closure. At that time, our regional health-care institutions answered the call to accommodate the continued training of these doctors. We must now leverage institutional cooperation for the benefit of our veterans.

Veterans Day reminds us of the sacrifices of our veterans. They deserve equitable access to high-quality health care.

I urge Gov. Josh Shapiro, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, and our congressional delegation to fully embrace this powerful opportunity and convene the multidisciplinary task force necessary to execute this initiative, and engage those most impacted in shaping its trajectory.

Let’s not miss this opportunity to be the new urban model for health care in our nation so that we can improve health outcomes for all Philadelphians, and better serve those who have served our country.

Barry Mann is the system medical director for health equity at Main Line Health, professor of surgery at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and board chair of Together for West Philadelphia.