About Medicine for the City
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A New Book About How to Build a Knowledge Economy
Medicine for the City: How Philadelphia's Academic Medical District Transformed Healthcare and Economic Growth
There is no Civic Center on Philadelphia’s Civic Center Boulevard. Instead, it has become one of the world’s premier medical districts, driving innovations from the COVID vaccine to groundbreaking cancer treatments, and fueling the city's life sciences renaissance.
In Medicine for the City, Tony Sorrentino, a writer, city planner, and economic development expert, chronicles the incredible transformation of this once-neglected area into a global hub for academic medicine. Through a detailed examination of the history of academic medicine in Philadelphia, Sorrentino explores the rise of institutions like Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), from their humble beginnings in Center City to their current dominance in West Philadelphia.
At the heart of the story is the powerful role of public-private partnerships—how leaders at CHOP, Penn, the Mayor’s office, and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) reimagined Civic Center Boulevard into a thriving academic medical district. Beginning with the closure of the Philadelphia General Hospital in 1977 and the eventual demise of the old Civic Center in 1997, this district has blossomed into 10 buildings spanning 6.4 million square feet. The result is not only world-renowned medical breakthroughs like the mRNA vaccine and CAR-T cell therapy but also a major economic engine for the city.
With an annual impact of $2.6 billion and $37.4 million in tax revenue, this medical district has become a critical job creator, employing over 17,000 individuals across various fields. More importantly, since 2009, it has attracted $8.5 billion in federally sponsored research funding, leading to 4,700 research jobs—the backbone of a thriving knowledge economy. The district has also catalyzed the creation of more than 50 cell and gene therapy companies in the region.
But how did all of this happen? Who were the key figures behind this transformation, and what does it mean for Philadelphia’s future? Through archival research and interviews with key civic leaders, Sorrentino reveals how mayors, hospital and university presidents, urban planners, and economic developers collaborated over four decades to transform a forgotten area into a globally influential academic medical district.
Medicine for the City is a testament to the power of vision, partnership, and strategic investment in reshaping both healthcare and the local economy. This is the story of how a city, once on the brink of decline, leveraged the strength of its academic institutions to become a leader in both innovation and economic prosperity.