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Beginning this fall, pregnant people and patients at Temple Health in Philadelphia will give birth at a new specialty hospital located near Juniata Park.
The Temple Women and Families Hospital will officially open Sept. 3, providing maternal and neonatal intensive care to mothers and newborns, as well as other outpatient health care, officials announced Wednesday.
Labor and delivery services at Temple University Hospital – Main Campus on Broad Street will cease around the same time.
“We are incredibly excited about all that Temple Women & Families Hospital has to offer our obstetrics patients and the broader community,” said Dr. Claire Raab, president and CEO of Temple Faculty Physicians, in an emailed statement.
Temple Health recorded 2,035 live births at its main campus location in 2023, according to the most recent available state data. They included 645 cesarean sections and 86 VBAC deliveries, or vaginal birth after cesarean.
Plans to relocate obstetrical services to the new facility were announced in 2021 after the health system acquired the former Cancer Treatment Centers of America campus at Wyoming and Castor avenues.
Raab said the health system has been working with providers in obstetrics, surgery, the emergency department and anesthesia in preparation for the opening, which was delayed until this September to provide more simulation and educational training for staff.
“This additional time will ensure that every process is streamlined, efficient, and perfectly aligned for patient safety and optimal care,” Raab said.
The Women and Families Hospital will also offer primary care, pediatrics, radiology and behavioral health services.
Some gynecologic-related care will still be offered at the main campus hospital, including outpatient OB/GYN visits, certain surgeries, cancer care and cases that originate in the emergency room.
Previously, some health providers told WHYY News they appreciated the chance to work in an upgraded facility with more room and space for laboring patients, who sometimes experienced crowded conditions at the main campus hospital.
But they worried about patients with high-risk pregnancies and delivery complications that may require the expertise of other trauma and specialty-care physicians, like cardiologists, neurologists and general surgeons.
Temple Health officials said the new hospital is equipped to handle high-risk situations and deliveries, and will have “immediate availability of consultants including maternal fetal medicine, cardiology, surgery, and others.”
The health system is working to notify patients and families about the new birthing hospital and changes to labor and delivery services, especially if they are expecting later this summer and fall.
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