July 10, 2025
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Sidney and Caroline Kimmel donated $28 million to Jefferson Health and Thomas Jefferson University to fund emergency department improvements at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and research efforts at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College.
Jefferson Health's plans to expand the emergency department at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital just got a major boost in funding.
Philanthropist Sidney Kimmel and his wife, Caroline, have donated $28 million to Jefferson Health and Thomas Jefferson University. The Kimmels' donation will support capital improvements, including the emergency department expansion, and enhance research at Sidney Kimmel Medical College.
"For Caroline and me, this is the right time, the right project and the right place to give," Sidney Kimmel said in a statement. "My heart has always been in Philadelphia, and access to the highest level of care has never been more important. We are pleased to continue our partnership with Jefferson, helping to build both the facilities and the research engine that will change lives for generations."
In February, Jefferson health unveiled plans to modernize its two trauma centers — Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City and Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital in North Philly — as part of a multi-year capital improvement plan.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is expected to receive an expanded emergency room and a new, 30-bed medical-surgical unit that is intended to ease pressure on the emergency room. Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital will open a new, 20-bed observation unit, expand its trauma bays and implement new medical record technology.
As part of the donation, Jefferson Health is renaming Jefferson University Hospital's emergency department the "Caroline Kimmel Emergency Department."
"Time and time again, Sidney and Caroline Kimmel have stepped up to make the world a better place, and we can't thank them enough," Jefferson CEO Joe Cacchione said in a statement. "This remarkable gift is a testament to their personal conviction and public purpose, and it reaffirms Jefferson's place as a national leader in academic medicine, research and uncompromising care."
In 1996, Kimmel donated $10 million to Jefferson — the largest the organization had received to that point — to rename its cancer center in his honor. In 2014, he donated another $110 million to rename Jefferson University's medical school as the Sidney Kimmel Medical College.
Kimmel, 97, made his money in the clothing industry, founding and selling the Jones Group, an apparel company that owned the brands Stuart Weitzman and Nine West, among others.
In April, the Kimmels donated $27.5 million to help Temple University fund a new home for its Klein College of Media and Communication and Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts. The gift was the largest in Temple's history. The new building, to be named in Caroline Kimmel's honor, broke ground in May. It is slated to open for the fall 2027 semester.
