Drexel Opens Parkway Health & Wellness Clinic in Center City

Drexel has opened a 23,000-square-foot facility in the heart of Center City Philadelphia that includes a new, central home for clinical services and research for the College of Nursing and Health Professions. Drexel will celebrate the opening of the Parkway Health & Wellness site and adjacent state-of-the-art health research facilities at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house on Nov. 5.

Parkway Health & Wellness is located on the second floor of the Three Parkway Building at 1601 Cherry St., adjacent to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and LOVE Park. The newly completed clinical and research space is part of a larger renovation project designed to move the majority of the College of Nursing and Health Professions’ academic offices into the Three Parkway Building earlier by 2015.

“At Parkway Health & Wellness, our world-class faculty get to practice what they teach,” said Gloria Donnelly, PhD, RN, FAAN, FCCP, dean of and a professor in the College of Nursing and Health Professions. “That opportunity, combined with the raw talent of our eager students, will translate to bringing patients great outcomes in care and bringing students learning opportunities in a real-world clinical setting.”

Parkway Health & Wellness is now open to patients seeking care for physical and behavioral health concerns, providing a wide range of clinical services in the areas of Drexel’s expertise in nursing and health professions. These include primary care services by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, including an emphasis on women’s health and occupational health services; physical therapy services for musculoskeletal and neurological conditions and improve runners’ performance; nutrition counseling including counseling focused on specific health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease; behavioral health counseling by couple and family therapists and through the creative arts therapies of music, art and dance/movement therapy. Services are provided by Drexel faculty in addition to doctoral and professional student trainees in these disciplines under the supervision of experienced faculty.

Parkway Health & Wellness is modeled on the format of a faculty practice plan, a common format in medical schools where faculty practice their clinical skills and students gain valuable clinical experience through supervised practice with patients. Many of the clinical services offered at Parkway Health & Wellness are new, and now uniquely combined in a single location.

“In the clinic, the ultimate goal of Parkway Health & Wellness is intercollaborative practice among the many different health disciplines practicing here,” said Sheila Plungis, director of clinical services for the College of Nursing and Health Professions. Under that vision, patients can come in with a health or wellness concern and have a team of professionals from different disciplines who are able to consult and work together to address the patient’s needs.

Integration with research is also a major part of the vision for this site. Parkway Health & Wellness is co-located with new Drexel nursing and health professions research labs on the second and third floors of the Three Parkway building, providing faculty and students opportunities to create new knowledge to inform best practices in health and healthcare and to translate these findings more rapidly into clinical practice. The clinic’s patients may opt to participate in these research studies.

Types of research include studies in biomechanical aspects of back and shoulder pain; treatment approaches for osteoporosis, depression and breast cancer survivors; music therapy for chronic pain; studies of the brain’s response to food; child and adult studies in physical activity and obesity; studies of running and gait; studies of lifespan caregiving; and studies of activity and participation in children with cerebral palsy.

Certain health care services at Parkway Health & Wellness, including physical therapy, accept major health insurance plans. (At this time a limited number of plans are accepted for primary care services, with more plans to be added in the coming weeks and months.) For services less commonly covered by insurance, clients pay based on an affordable sliding fee scale.

Individuals interested in seeking services at Drexel’s Parkway Health & Wellness site should call 215.553.7012.