PHILADELPHIA—Work will begin next week on a $9-million project that will expand Drexel University's nurse-managed health center in North Philadelphia.

The project will double the size of its 11th Street Family Health Services Center from 17,000-square-feet to approximately 34,000 square feet, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The facility, seen by some in the health community as a pioneer in integrated care, received a $2.5-million gift from The Sheller Family Foundation earlier this year to help fund the expansion initiative.

“It's not just about growing bigger,” says Patricia Gerrity, director of the center and a professor and associate dean for community programs at Drexel. “It's about being able to provide more and better services and having better facilities. We are so crowded right now.”

Upon completion of the project in the fall of 2015, the facility will be renamed the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services Center. The two-story expansion will provide space for primary care, dental and behavioral-health services, additional new services, and training space for more students and faculty from Drexel's College of Nursing and Health Professions. See story in the Philadelphia Business Journal.