Tuesday,
May 5, 1998
Volume 44 Number 32


Where Babies Come From 

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) will start celebrating on May 11 the opening of the newly constructed Labor & Delivery unit and Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) on the 7th floor of the Ravdin Building.

The new facility has 14 Labor, Delivery and Recovery (LDR) rooms equipped with state-of-the-art technology, and 31 bassinets for infants. The LDRs are immediately adjacent to two fully-equipped operating rooms for emergency and scheduled cesarean sections and other procedures. But is also designed for comfort, said Dr. Mark A. Morgan, director of Obstetrics and Maternal Fetal Medicine. It has private jacuzzis, skyline views of Philadelphia and comfortable family waiting areas among other things. "The ICN supports family-centered care and includes private quarters for breastfeeding mothers and special consultation rooms for parents to meet with their child's caregivers." The unit is staffed by nurses who specialize in infant intensive care and a team of physicians from Penn and CHOP who care for newborns from the most high-risk situations to their transition to home.

Special events for faculty, staff and students:

Open House: Monday, May 11, 3-5 p.m. marks the opening with tours, commemorative gifts (see t-shirt design, below), a raffle and refreshments.

Regular tours, with gifts and refreshments, will also be held throughout the week at the times listed below, but registration is required for these tours (call -800-789-PENN).

Additional Tours:
Tuesday, May 12, 2-4 p.m.
Wednesday, May 13, 1-3 p.m., 5-7 p.m.
Saturday, May 16, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
 

The stork stops here!

Ivy Stone is Bookstore Bound

The 1998 Ivy Stone is destined for the new Penn Bookstore now under construction at 36th and Walnut Streets. Though the actual stone won't be laid until June 3, there will be an unveiling ceremony at the Bookstore on Ivy Day, Saturday, May 16-with drawings of the stone displayed at the site at approximately 5:30 p.m.The design (right) by College sophomore Laurie Kalb will be cut in black granite and will be installed in the floor of the Bookstore's main entrance, in the rotunda at 36th and Walnut. Ivy will be planted around that entry area. Presentation of Ivy Day awards starts at 4 p.m. in College Hall 200, with officers of the Class of '73 (the Twenty-Five Year reunion class) returning to present the Senior Honor Awards to this year's winners.

(for more on the Bookstore, click here)

Six Faculty Fellows for the College Houses

Interim Provost Michael L. Wachter has announced the appointment of six new Faculty Fellows to the 1998 comprehensive College Houses. Selected by Faculty Masters in consultation with students and staff within each College House, the six who will begin their terms on July 1 are Professors Michael Gamer of English (Hamilton); Anita Gelburd of the Wharton School (Hill), Tina Lu of AMES (Harnwell); Lori Rosenkopf of Wharton management (Gregory); Alan Strudler of Wharton legal studies (Harrison) and Joseph Sun of SEAS (Community).

"Students at Penn consistently want greater and more varied interaction with Penn's scholars and teachers," said Dr. Wachter. "These appointments, when combined with our Faculty Masters and incumbent Faculty Fellows, will go a long way towards guaranteeing that result. "

Faculty Fellows, who serve two-year appointments, live in the College Houses with their families, dining with students and bringing House residents into daily contact with other scholars and teachers. Some Fellows are chosen because their scholarly interests are related to the specialized programming in the Houses, Dr. Wachter added, but "all join the College Houses because of their ability to serve in more than one capacity. They are informal advisors, program initiators and bridge builders to the other resources of the University."

(See Profiles of the new Fellows)

FY1999 Commonwealth Appropriation: Up 2.8%

On April 22, the Pennsylvania House, by a vote of 197-2, gave final legislative approval to Senate Bill 1315, Penn's Commonwealth appropriation for Fiscal Year 1999. The Senate had previously approved SB 1315 on March 31, by a vote of 47-0. The bill now goes to the Governor for his signature, which is expected.

Senate Bill 1315 provides a total of $36,461,000 in funding for the University, an increase of $991,000, or 2.8%, over FY 1998 funding levels. As shown in the table below, this funding is broken down as follows: $31,489,000 for the Veterinary School (a 3.25% increase); $4,034,000 for the Medical School and $938,000 for the Dental Clinics. All appropriations are funded at the level recommended by the Governor in his proposed budget released in February.

The Legislature also gave approval to several smaller appropriations funded through separate bills. These appropriations include $199,000 for the University Museum (a 10% increase), $132,000 for Cardiovascular Studies at HUP and $600,000 for the Hospital's Cancer Center (a 9.1% increase). In addition, the General Appropriations bill (House Bill 2281) includes $4 million in Museum Assistance Grant funding, which is awarded on a competitive basis to museums and cultural institutions not receiving direct grants. Last year, the Morris Arboretum received approximately $120,000 through this program.

The General Assembly approved two equipment programs which will benefit the University. The Legislature provided $6 million for the higher education equipment grant program, the same as last year's funding. Last year Penn received $307,000 through this program. Also, the engineering equipment grant program was funded at $1 million (same as last year). In FY 1998 Penn received $63,000 from this matching program.

Finally, the General Appropriation (GA) bill provided additional funding to assist hospitals experiencing losses due to uncompensated care. The GA bill increased by $7.5 million the amount of state money included in the Community Access Fund, a fund created two years ago to offset losses hospitals had incurred due to Act 35 of 1996 (welfare reform legislation). With federal match, there will now be a total of approximately $37 million available and teaching hospitals, for the first time, are eligible to receive allocations from the fund. The exact dollar impact of this expansion on the Health System (HUP, Presbyterian, Pensylvania Hospital) has not yet been determined.

-- Paul S. Cribbins, Director for Commonwealth and City Relations

University of Pennsylvania/Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: History of Non-Preferred Appropriation

(in thousands of dollars; see above)

   FY 1994  FY 1995  FY 1996  FY 1997  FY 1998

 FY 1999

SB 1315

 FY 1999

%Increase

Instruction  $11,838  $15,489  $ 9,489   $ 9,089   $0  $0  -
Medical Instruction   3,326  4,280  4,280 4,280  4,034    4,034  0.0
 Dental Clinics   773  994   994   994  938 938  0.0 
Veterinary Instruction*   7,456  7,456  10,420 10,420 
New Bolton Center*  2,840 4,154  7,118  7,518 
Food and Animal Clinics & Services*  1,529  1,968  1,968  1,968
Center for Animal Health & Productivity*   934  1,201   1,201  1,201
Total Vet Medicine  $12,759  $14,779  $20,707  $21,107  $30,498**  $31,489** 3.25 
Total University  $28,696  $35,542  $35,470  $35,470  $35,470  $36,461 2.8 
* Veterinary School line item
** Vet School appropriations combined into one line item entitled "Veterinary Activities." (as of 4/23/98)


Almanac, Vol. 44, No. 32, May 5, 1998

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