The Center for 
Surgical Health

Surgery is a human right.

Supporting, educating, and advocating for vulnerable individuals with surgical diseases.

Our Vision

To create sustainable infrastructure through which all members of our community can access high-quality, cost-conscious surgical care, despite socioeconomic, political, racial, cultural or gender-based disparities.

Clinic Schedule

Come see us at Puentes de Salud!

1700 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146

Can't make it at these times?

No problem! Call us at 267-702-5530 or email us at CSH@pennmedicine.upenn.edu to set a time to visit.

Conditions Treated

We provide free consultation for adult surgical conditions including but not limited to those in the diagram.

About The Center for Surgical Health

In 2016, PENN Professor of Surgery, Dr. Jon Morris – accompanied by a team of Penn residents and medical students – started providing free surgical consultations for homeless Philadelphians at a soup kitchen in West Philadelphia. Through this initiative, the team saw firsthand how structural barriers make it particularly difficult for patients from underserved and undersupported communities to obtain surgical treatments.

Inspired to make a bigger impact, the team founded the Center for Surgical Health (CSH) in the fall of 2020. CSH strives to improve access to high-quality surgical care for patients from all backgrounds. CSH relies on community organizations to help identify patients who could benefit from its various services. For each patient who enters the program, CSH provides personalized assistance with appointment scheduling, transportation and translation services, insurance applications, and more.

Divisions

6 collaborative divisions encompassing all aspects of surgical care

Clinics

The Clinics rely on intimate partnerships with community organizations to co-locate surgical services alongside primary care. We pair patients with medical student personal patient navigators (PPNs), providing support throughout the perioperative continuum. Moreover, they connect patients with social and legal services that would otherwise be unavailable. 

Classroom

The Classroom is the curricular arm of the CSH and is the home of “Operation Equity: An Introduction to the Social Determinants of Surgical Health,” a campus-wide elective that equips students with a broad overview of factors that influence disparities in surgery and challenges them to consider systemic barriers that compromise access to high-quality healthcare. 

Research Lab

The Research Lab provides an infrastructure and mentorship model to train an interdisciplinary cadre of scientists to study the social determinants of surgical health. The goal of The Research Lab is to provide a space for young investigators to develop cross-disciplinary academic partnerships. The Research Lab liberates investigators from disciplinary norms and encourages creative problem-solving.

Policy Lab

The Policy Lab is the advocacy division of CSH. We seek to ensure that the needs of CSH’s patient population are heard by institutional, local, and state policymakers. We also conduct health services research to help inspire more equitable healthcare policy at all levels.

DEI

The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strives to be a driver and leader for DEI efforts via (1) collaboration with the other divisions of CSH with the aim of modeling a workforce representative of the patient population we serve and (2) creating inclusivity across the multitude of identities and experiences amongst individuals of our organization.

Special Initiatives

The Division of Communications and Special Initiatives supports all other CSH divisions by providing mechanisms to enhance interdivisional communication. We maintain the CSH website and social media presence, ensure that alumni CSH participants are kept informed about our work, and assist other institutions across the country with developing their own surgical clinics.

Get Involved

The Center for Surgical Health is always looking for additional people to help us achieve our goal of supporting, educating, and advocating for vulnerable individuals with surgical diseases. If you have an idea on how we can improve our Center, or would like to volunteer with us, please contact us at csh@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. We would also greatly appreciate any donations, which will go directly towards patient care (diagnostic testing, surgical services, transportation, surgical supplies) or supporting our educational, advocacy, and research efforts. 

Our Partners