Med. Center officials consider HUP move

Officials said that they have been eyeing the Civic Center for the last six months as a potential expansion site for the hospital's currently cramped quarters. The new Pennsylvania Convention Center, which is currently under construction adjacent to the Reading Terminal on 12th and Arch streets, will, when completed, make the current facility obsolete. The Civic Center would then likely be available for purchase, according to Gordon Williams, vice president of the Medical Center. Construction on the new center is scheduled to be completed by 1994. Williams said that HUP and the outpatient services would be moved to the new location, across the street from their current site, while the Medical School and the research facilities would remain where they are now. At last month's University Council meeting, University planning head Robert Zemsky said that the current HUP facility is "constipated" and prevents staff from performing its best work. Williams said the relocation is part of the Medical Center's master facility plan for the next 50 years. He added that Medical Center officials have considered six or seven sites for relocation, but that the Civic Center is their top choice. "The Civic Center site has a lot of positive things about it," Williams said. "The location is very close and it's a large enough site." The proposal has been presented to the Medical Center Trustees as well as to the University Trustees, but no vote or resolution has been passed by either body concerning the purchase. In addition, since the property officially is not up for sale yet, no bid has been made, Williams said. "We're still very preliminary at this time," Williams said. "We're not buying [the Civic Center] yet and I'm not sure that we ever will." Williams said there is no timetable for the proposed purchase either. The Medical Center is still working out the details of a purchase, but ultimately the decision will be based on the price and availability of the property. Any purchase would be handled by the University administration rather than only by the Medical Center. "We have received the go ahead to continue planning," Williams said. Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs Mark Kelley said that the move would be welcome because the Medical Center is running out of space. "What we have now is a hodge-podge of old and new buildings which are sort of built up by grafting buildings on to each other," said Kelley. "We can't sit with a pat hand because we desperately need more ambulatory space." Kelley said that it is important for the University to decide on how it plans to expand its facilities. "The best way to go is to think 10 to 20 years from now," he said. Kelley said that the proposal will continue to move forward with "deliberate speed." "The University leadership has been very supportive," he said. HUP Vice President and Executive Director William Pittinger said that he believes the most likely scenario would be for the Medical Center to use most of the site for the hospital and the rest for parking, roadwork and ambulatory care. "It's all dependent on when the site becomes available," Pittinger said. "It makes sense for the University to acquire the property."

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