PHILADELPHIA — Penn Medicine and Mercy Catholic Medical Center – Mercy Philadelphia Campus will come together with a coalition of religious and community leaders from Southwest Philadelphia to hold a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic for 500 parishioners from the local faith community on Saturday, February 13 at the Church of Christian Compassion. Appointments will be available to individuals in the phase 1b priority group outlined by the City of Philadelphia’s vaccination guidelines. The event is the first of three planned vaccination events in partnership with the local faith community. Individuals who receive shots at each clinic will return to the same site to receive their second vaccination a month later.
“We want to get COVID-19 vaccines to especially hard-hit areas of our city to ensure protection for the residents who need it most,” said P.J. Brennan, MD, chief medical officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “By partnering with West Philadelphia faith leaders whose organizations have such strong foundations in the neighborhoods they serve, we hope to join forces to build trust and provide resources to keep as many people as possible safe from the virus.”
“We are proud to partner with Penn Medicine and the local faith community to bring vaccination opportunities directly to our West Philadelphia neighbors,” said Chris Cullom, president of Mercy Catholic Medical Center. “We at Mercy Catholic Medical Center are committed to serving our communities and instilling vaccine confidence in our neighborhoods. It is our mission to serve as a healing presence in this community and we are thrilled to collaborate with local faith leaders and Penn to work toward this goal.”
The initial clinic will provide 500 doses of the vaccine from Penn Medicine hospitals’ vaccine supply to residents who register in advance via a Penn Medicine text-based platform or phone call. Participating religious organizations will provide information about that process to their own members. Interested participants must register in advance. Walk-up appointments will not be available.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $8.9 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top medical schools in the United States for more than 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $496 million awarded in the 2020 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities include: the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center—which are recognized as one of the nation’s top “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report—Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Medicine Princeton Health; and Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is powered by a talented and dedicated workforce of more than 44,000 people. The organization also has alliances with top community health systems across both Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, creating more options for patients no matter where they live.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2020, Penn Medicine provided more than $563 million to benefit our community.