Grant in the Spotlight: Jefferson Health’s Hansjörg Wyss Wellness Center
Image credit: Jefferson Health
The Wyss Foundation is pleased to provide a $3,100,000 grant to Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health for the Hansjörg Wyss Wellness Center, a clinic dedicated to delivering quality healthcare and social services to Philadelphia’s immigrant and refugee populations.
The Hansjörg Wyss Wellness Center is the first and only community-based medical center in South Philadelphia committed to providing comprehensive and culturally competent primary care regardless of a patient’s health insurance or citizenship status. Clients of the Center have access to social, educational, and mental health services provided through Jefferson Health’s community organization partner, the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition (SEAMAAC), which has been serving refugees, immigrants, and asylees for over thirty-five years.
“Immigrants and refugees are facing unprecedented challenges today, and receiving healthcare shouldn’t be another barrier to overcome,” said Marc Altshuler, MD, a professor and physician of family and community medicine at Jefferson and clinical leader of the Hansjörg Wyss Wellness Center. “Through the generosity of the Wyss Foundation, this Center is addressing the health disparities that have plagued these patient populations for far too long.”
“Access to healthcare is one of the most crucial components of a strong, thriving community,” says Molly McUsic, president of the Wyss Foundation. “We are proud of the Wyss Wellness Center and its work to provide essential health and social services to families that deserve high-quality care and equitable access without having to face unnecessary obstacles.”
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About the Wyss Foundation – The Wyss Foundation is a private, charitable foundation dedicated to supporting innovative, lasting solutions that improve lives, empower communities, and strengthen connections to the land.
About Jefferson – Nationally ranked, Jefferson, located in the greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey, is reimagining health care and higher education to create unparalleled value. Jefferson is more than 43,000 people strong, dedicated to providing the highest-quality, compassionate clinical care for patients; preparing tomorrow's professional leaders for 21st-century careers; and creating new knowledge through basic/programmatic, clinical and applied research. Thomas Jefferson University, home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College and the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, comprises 10 colleges and four schools offering 200 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 8,400 students. Jefferson Health serves patients through millions of encounters each year at 18 hospitals (10 are Magnet® designated by the ANCC for nursing excellence) and over 50 outpatient and urgent care locations throughout the region.