Get a sneak peek inside Main Line Health’s $64M King of Prussia Health Center

Main Line Health is set to unveil its sixth ambulatory care center in the Philadelphia suburbs when its King of Prussia Health Center opens March 9.

The $64 million project in the Village at Valley Forge consists of a six-story, 94,000-square-foot building that features Main Line Health’s first women’s specialty center and a 332-space parking garage.

“We thought this would be a great spot to be in,” said Donna Phillips, president of Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital and senior executive of ambulatory and professional services at Main Line Health. “The growth in the King of Prussia area is tremendous.”

The Bryn Mawr-based health system is joining a mixed-used development that features retail, dining, residential and office space. The King of Prussia site is already home to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s pediatric specialty center. An adjoining 52-bed CHOP inpatient pediatric hospital is under construction.

Phillips said Main Line Health already serves patients in the King of Prussia area, but those patients typically have to travel to its Bryn Mawr or Paoli hospitals to get the care that will be available at the new King of Prussia Health Center.

“We want to make it easier for patients to access our services,” she said.

Maria Flannery, divisional director of physician practice management and ambulatory care, said the new center will have physicians in more than 20 specialty practice areas, which is more than its other ambulatory care centers in Broomall, Concordville, Exton, Newtown Square and Collegeville.

The health center will provide primary and specialty care, physical medicine and rehabilitation, imaging and diagnostic radiology, and laboratory services.

The women’s specialty center is being created in collaboration with Axia Women’s Health, a specialty physician practice with about 350 providers at more than 120 care sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Specialty services at the new center will include breast health; digestive health; autoimmune treatment; headache care; and speech, physical and occupational therapy. An emotional wellness center will provide outpatient mental health services to women and their families.

On-site medical practices will include doctors specializing in primary care, cardiology, endocrinology, neurology, general surgery and orthopedics.

Main Line Health hired 124 full-time equivalents to staff the center. That number doesn’t count employees of the center’s Aneu Kitchen & Juicery cafe.

Phillips said one of the goals in designing the King of Prussia site was to figure out ways to engage with the community. One of the ways they hope to achieve that is with a demonstration kitchen.

“We don’t have anything like this at any of our other centers,” Phillips said. “We’ll teach people how to eat healthy and how to shop for healthy foods.”

The health system has worked out an arrangement with Aramark, which will provide four chefs to lead demonstrations. Main Line Health has also reached out to local chefs, many of whom have expressed an interest in participating.

Flannery said another way they will engage with the community is through educational seminars and programs.

“We’ll have something happening almost every day we are open,” she said. About 60 events are already scheduled. Programs will cover topics ranging from diabetes education, prenatal care, “cooking for two,” and slip and fall prevention.

Flannery said the center will also feature a retail store called “The Wellness Porch.”

“We went to all our physicians and asked if they were to recommend a product for a patient what would it be,” she said. “We didn’t want products like durable medical equipment or Tylenol. We wanted things that were different.”

Some examples, she said, will be products for nursing moms, portion-control plates for healthy eating and hand-made greeting cards. “We have a headache center and one of its doctors suggested an oil he likes patients with migraines to use,” Flannery said.

Phillis said another unique feature at the King of Prussia Center will be a rooftop farm that will grow fresh produce in every season except winter. The produce, she said, will be used in the demo kitchen, be provided to community residents through a partnership with the Norristown nonprofit Greener Partners, and be provided to a local college (which she declined to identify because the partnership is still being finalized).

The center was designed to have the feel of boutique hotel. Design features include the installation of floral photos throughout the building and large windows that allow an abundance of light. The building was created with flexibility of service offerings in mind so that if a need in the community is identified, new services can be introduced within the existing space.

The design architect for the center was Nelson Worldwide. IMC Construction is the building contractor, and the development manager is Anchor Health Properties.

The center is owned by Main Line Health and an aligned group of private practice physicians.

Main Line Health first disclosed its plans to open an outpatient care center in King of Prussia in early 2018.