Stephanie Gilzene delivered her son, Calvin, nine weeks before his due date. As such a small newborn, he remained in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Temple Women & Families Hospital for six weeks before his eventual discharge.
"Those were long days," said Gilzene, a Philadelphia native, "but they were educational, too."
Gilzene remembers receiving "a personalized experience" at Women & Families Hospital. The staff provided necessary support and privacy, she said, and allowed her to participate in Calvin's care — from helping with feeding and changing him to taking his temperature.
Today, Calvin is a healthy and happy baby whose nine-month growth milestones are right where they need to be.
"Credit belongs with the physicians and nurses there," Gilzene said.
This month marks the one-year operational anniversary of Temple Women & Families Hospital, Philadelphia’s only hospital focused entirely on women’s health and family care.
"It has been amazing to see the vision for Temple Women & Families Hospital become a reality," said Abhi Rastogi, MBA, MIS, President & CEO of Temple Health. "Reaching this milestone is a credit to our physicians, nurses, and staff, and to the philanthropic and community partners who helped us build Philadelphia's only hospital dedicated entirely to women's health and family care. One year in, I'm grateful to everyone who made this vision real, and proud of what it means for the communities we serve."
The hospital, which opened its doors in September 2025, provides comprehensive services, from OB/GYN and maternity care to family medicine and pediatrics, women’s health specialties, and radiology services — all in one place, from prenatal care through pregnancy to childbirth and beyond. The hospital also offers a Level III NICU — one of the region’s largest.
The opening of Temple Women & Families Hospital has expanded access to the highest level of prenatal, maternity, and post-partum care for Temple Health patients and community members, while celebrating year-over-year volume growth in newborn deliveries throughout the system.
“Systemwide, all labor-and-delivery, maternity, and inpatient gynecology services are now offered at Temple Women & Families Hospital. What’s more, we have increased access to additional services, like radiology, gynecologic oncology, and behavioral health,” said Sharon Kurfuerst, EdD, OTR/L, FACHE, executive director of Temple Women & Families Hospital. “The driving mission of opening Temple Women & Families Hospital was to create accessible pathways to comprehensive healthcare for women and families and we are incredibly proud of the progress that has been achieved in our first year of operation.”
First-year milestones
Among the hospital’s noteworthy achievements, Women & Families contributed to the more than 2,000 newborns delivered system-wide in the most-recent fiscal year, ending June 30, 2026, which marked an increase of 9.5% over the prior fiscal year. Pediatric outpatient visits nearly doubled over the same reporting period, from FY25 to FY26.
External philanthropic support is further strengthening the ability of Women & Families Hospital to meet the needs of its patients.
Temple Health received a three-year, $700,000 grant to support the development of the Temple Family Thriving Program—a trauma-informed initiative that integrates caregiver and early childhood support directly into prenatal and postpartum care.
The hospital also received nearly $900,000 in state funding to support critical upgrades to emergency power systems. Elected officials visited the campus to help unveil a new Community Care Kiosk, developed by the Maternity Care Coalition and designed to expand access to essential resources for families.
A separate $200,000 philanthropic contribution introduced 41 AngelEye Camera Systems to Women & Families Hospital’s NICU, providing parents of critically ill newborns with access to a secure, 24-hour remotely accessible video feed of their babies.
Expansion of services
Also, in the last 12 months, Temple Women & Families Hospital has expanded existing access or introduced to its campus the following services:
Surgical capabilities, including ear, nose, and throat; plastic surgery; and gynecologic surgery
Comprehensive radiology services, including mammography and MRI. (MRI is available until 8 p.m. each weekday.)
This fall, women’s oncologic services offered by Fox Chase Cancer Center providers, including breast health, gynecologic oncology, and genetic counseling, also will be available.
Women & Families Hospital began offering surgical services for women with gynecologic cancers in June and has only “continued to grow,” said James Stuart Ferriss, MD, FACOG, chief of gynecologic surgical oncology at Temple Health. “We are committed to bringing National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center care to all our patients,” Ferriss said, adding that Women & Families is planning to offer outpatient consultations and appointments for gynecological cancer beginning in November.
Since April, otolaryngologist Oneida Arosarena, MD, FACS, has been performing surgeries at Women & Families Hospital each month, helping to halve the wait time for her patients.
“I have been conducting procedures like removing skin lesions as well as more-complicated surgeries like nasal reconstructions and removing salivary gland tumors,” said Arosarena, professor of otolaryngology head and neck surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. “What I’ve found — and my patients have found — is that Women & Families Hospital delivers an exceptional experience for providers and patients alike and has been a great addition to our Temple Health system.”
Complementing access to high-quality clinical and surgical services, Women & Families provides culturally relevant education and support, through expanded access to healthcare resources and patient education, as well as newly formed community organization partnerships. The hospital has integrated holistic community services aimed at supporting women immediately post-discharge, including access to an on-site office for the Pennsylvania’s supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).