Honickman Center Will Provide Patient-Centric Care at the Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience

“It’s not about the doctor, it’s about the patient,” says Robert Rosenwasser, MD, MBA, the Jewell L. Osterholm Professor and Chair of Neurological Surgery at Sidney Kimmel Medical College and president of the Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience. “The Honickman Center was designed with the patient in mind.”

Rosenwasser, who is looking forward to moving all of the clinical programs of the Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience to the 10th floor of the new building, says one of the major advantages of the state-of-the-art facility is that it is “patient-centric and will provide one-stop shopping.”

“Now, patients have to come to my office, and then they need to go across the street for other services, and to another building for additional testing, or to see another physician,” he says. “The patient will come to the Honickman Center, and everybody will then come to see the patient rather than the other way around. It will be a huge advantage for the patients and the families.”

It will also be an advantage for the physicians and researchers running clinical trials.

“Having a patient-centric environment will benefit clinical research because all of your players will be in one place,” he says, explaining that in clinical trials the principal investigator often partners with social workers, physical and occupational therapists, speech therapists, and a variety of other healthcare professionals. “When you bring a patient in who’s enrolled in a trial, all these people need to interview the patient as part of the follow-up, so having them in one place will make it easier. And anything that makes clinical research easier strengthens the clinical trial.”

Rosenwasser touts the technological advances that are unique to the Center, including advanced digital wayfinding technologies, wearable data integration, voice assistants, and so much more. He also calls the neurodiverse-friendly design “unique and forward-thinking” innovations.

The facility will be a warm, welcoming place for patients with autism and other neurodevelopmental challenges. There are sensory-calming areas that limit both noise and visual distraction, specially-created furniture, and a healing garden, just to name a few.

“It’s all designed to benefit the patient and care they get,” he says. “And in the end, that’s what’s important.”