Magee Rehabilitation Hospital

Description

MISSION
The mission of Magee Rehabilitation is to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities by providing high quality physical and cognitive rehabilitation services

VISION
We will be a preeminent independent provider of physical and cognitive rehabilitation services within the global market We will accomplish our vision by

Delivering clinical care that sets a world community standard for excellence
as measured by outcomes

Sustaining the highest levels of patient family and referral source
satisfaction

Being the employer of choice thus attracting and retaining the most
competent productive work force

Engaging in strategic partnerships that achieve sustainable clinical
outcomes at a lower cost than our competitors

Success in attaining the vision will be gauged by

Attainment of business and financial goals without reduction in either
quality or patient satisfaction

Maintaining name equity and reputation

Recruitment and retention of competent caring and effective employees

Magee being sought out as a strategic partner

An increase in market share

VALUES
At the root of all of Magees accomplishments are the values and more specifically the traits and behaviors of the Magee associates As fundamental as this is a committed focus on these traits and behaviors is a prerequisite for constantly improving the quality that is linked to our clinical and customer service performance Our values must become engrained within us all such that from day one at Magee our associates will deliver value through their demonstration of

Excellence

Honesty

Compassion

Creativity

Teamwork

Confidentiality

Stewardship

Self Development

History

History of Magee
Anna Justina Magee was a fifth generation descendant of Johann Christian and Christina Kneass who arrived in Philadelphia from Rotterdam in September 1753 Miss Magee was born on January 21 1843 the fourth daughter and one of seven children of James and Caroline Magee

James Magee and his business partner George Taber manufactured saddlery hardware at 4th and Market Streets and found a very popular outlet for their goods in New Orleans As their Southern trade flourished they invested in lands in the Southern states Soon they formed another firm bearing the Magee name in New Orleans while continuing to do business in Philadelphia

James Magee retired from the business in 1847 to pursue other interests Known as The Father of the Pennsylvania Railroad he was one of its incorporators and first directors Besides other railroad interests he founded and served as the first president of Westmoreland Coal Company He was on its Board of Directors until his death in 1878

During the same period he was a vestryman of St Stephens Episcopal Church at 19 South 10th Street in Philadelphia where Anna Magee also worshiped and in tribute to her father later became one of its major benefactors

As an adult Miss Magee was active in many religious and civic organizations including the Acorn Club the Philadelphia Society of Colonial Dames of America the Philadelphia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution the Associate Committee of Women to the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art and the Historical and Genealogical Societies of Pennsylvania Despite these activities Anna Magee lived very privately at 1720 Walnut Street until she died in 1923 at the age of 80

In her Will in memory of her parents she endowed the Magee Professorship of Medicine at The Jefferson Medical College And with a gift of 1285000 she established what is now Magee Rehabilitation Hospital

Anna Magee believed that the Citys hospital wards were overcrowded because needy patients although they could not resume their normal occupations or duties remained there too long after passing the initial stage of acute illness or injury She also did not want patients families to be burdened with their support She envisioned a hospital for convalescentsone she stated that should ensure quotthe highest degree of reasonable comfort and healthfulnessquot in a quotstately and dignifiedquot building in which quotno money should be misused for architectural ornamentquot


Under Chairman C Stevenson Newhall MD the first Board meeting took place on June 2 1925 A committee was appointed to study the will survey hospital needs and come up with the best plan to follow At following meetings the Board decided that construction should not begin until 25 million had been accrued and that money for the site and building should come from income not principal holdings in the estate

By 1937 the funds were in hand but a planned purchase of a hospital at 17th and Summer Streets was not completed because the costs of renovation were too high Instead in 1939 the Board agreed to purchase a tract of land in Roxborough adjoining Fairmount Park


But the crush of high costs scarce materials and labor shortages during and well after World War II made it virtually impossible to begin a building program In 1953 the Fairmount Park property was sold and a search was conducted to look for a site more centrally located to the Citys hospitals However hospital conditions had changed greatly since the time of Anna Magees death Also World War II greatly changed the way medical professionals viewed treating seriously injured returning GIs

Dr Howard A Rusk of the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York City demonstrated that rehabilitation not convalescence was better able to restore soldiers to their former abilities Also Frank Krusen MD called The Father of Physical Medicine was developing theories and treatments in physical medicine while treating patients with disabilities and chronic diseases at the Mayo Clinic

In 1954 the Orphans Court of Philadelphia permitted the use of the Magee Trust Fund to establish a rehabilitation center ruling that rehabilitation was now seen as a dynamic form of convalescent care and that such service was consistent with the wishes of Anna Magee

The search for a founding director of the hospital led to H Frazer Parry MD who had studied with Drs Rusk and Krusen He assumed the post in September 1955 setting up office space at 1500 Walnut Street where he worked with a team to find an appropriate building for the hospital

A former factory at 1513 Race Street was ideal because of its central location open floor space and relatively few walls that would have to be taken down The building was purchased from American Meter Company and construction and renovations began in December 1956 The total cost of the project which was designed for 39 patients amounted to about 25 million

Opening ceremonies for Magee Memorial Hospital for Convalescents were held on March 9 1958 and with a staff of 30 in place the hospital the first of its kind in Philadelphia began admitting patients the very next day In the first two years approximately 57 percent of the care was free

Leading the way in innovative techniques and rehabilitation therapy from the very beginning Magee Rehabilitation is now acclaimed as one of the best rehabilitation hospitals in the nation due to the vision of Anna Magee and her legacy to the community in the Philadelphia region