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Giving Back—to Pay It Forward
Rising 19 stories at 11th and Chestnut streets and opening in 2024, Jefferson’s pioneering Honickman Center is the state-of-the-art linchpin to the enterprise’s strategy to revolutionize modern healthcare.
Supporting the Honickman Center is vital—and personal—to husband and wife Kim and Steve Hollingsworth. “We believe in the future state of healthcare,” says Kim, citing the building’s patient-centric design, integrated, centralized services, and leading-edge technological features. The couple’s dedication has a home on the building’s 14th floor, one of the three floors that will be occupied by the nationally ranked Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC), where they have made a $1 million donation to name the Clinical Trials Family Gathering Area.
For Steve, a commercial insurance broker with Sassa & Concannon Insurance Agency in Delaware County, PA, and Kim, retired after working for 33 years in healthcare focusing on hospital and provider relations, a longstanding connection and commitment to Jefferson and its mission and a need to give back were the driving force behind this life-changing—and life-saving—gift.
Kim’s Jefferson journey began professionally more than 20 years ago when Jefferson was her first consulting client. She never forgot their belief in her—or lost touch. “I always had respect for the mission and the people I worked with,” she says.
Yet for Kim, the reason is even more personal. Twenty-three years ago, her sister passed away at age 47 after a brutal six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She speaks to the vital importance of research, sharing that for her sister, clinical trials were her only treatment option. “We believe in research, and feel that with proper coordination of effort we can see improvement,” she says. “My husband and I are impressed with the research at Jefferson and are hopeful that through this opportunity, we can impact cancer research, treatment, cures, and quality of life.”
We believe in research, and feel that with proper coordination of effort we can see improvement. My husband and I are impressed with the research at Jefferson and are hopeful that through this opportunity, we can impact cancer research, treatment, cures, and quality of life.
“At the end of the day, any way that we can help is very important,” she shares. “We feel very connected and in debt to Jefferson—not only for partnering in my own personal growth early on, but also for the healthcare our family received over the years.”
“We are fortunate to have this opportunity now and to be in the position to help others,” Kim says. “People have helped us, and we want to do the same for others. We feel responsible to do that. It feels great to help patients and their families and we believe in paying it forward.”