The University of Pennsylvania Health System's Penn First team was looking to construct a $1.6 billion state of the art facility. This 1.5 million square foot building would become the 2nd largest hospital in the United States.

As a long standing partner and client, the Penn First team trusted COFCO, A Henricksen Company (COFCO) to assist with preliminary ideas and budgets for the furniture portion of the project. Eventually, the COFCO team was awarded the project.

One of the most challenging aspects of this project was the timing -- which coincided with the global pandemic in 2020. This caused manufacturer shutdowns, supply chain shortages, and shipping delays. Fortunately, the team’s ability to preplan each stage of the ordering process allowed them to pivot and make changes based on what was happening in the industry. As a result, the team was able to avoid most furniture delays -- the team ultimately worked with 44 vendors to deliver over 100 tractor trailers of furniture with ZERO scheduling errors. This enabled the Penn team to open the new facility in grand fashion as scheduled.

COFCO’s team is proud of their work with the Penn First project team and the positive impact the Pavilion will have on the future of healthcare!