If you or a family member was treated at the burn center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, your medical records document the full severity of your injuries — burn depth, total body surface area, surgeries, and rehabilitation. Those records are critical evidence in a burn injury claim, and Pennsylvania's 2-year statute of limitations means the time to act is now.
The burn center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, part of the Jefferson Health system and affiliated with the Sidney Kimmel Medical College, is a major academic burn treatment program in the heart of Center City Philadelphia. It draws patients from across the Delaware Valley — a tri-state metropolitan region spanning southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and northern Delaware — one of the oldest and most industrialized corridors in the country.
The center provides comprehensive acute burn care: resuscitation and critical care management of serious burns, debridement and skin grafting, treatment of inhalation and airway injuries, and coordinated reconstruction and rehabilitation. As an academic medical center, Jefferson generates detailed, standardized clinical documentation for each patient — the kind of thorough, scientifically grounded record that establishes injury severity clearly and credibly in a legal claim.
Philadelphia's burn injuries reflect its history as a dense, aging industrial city: legacy refineries and chemical plants, an old and often overtaxed housing stock, extensive rail and port infrastructure, and steady construction and redevelopment. Many burns treated at Jefferson involve third-party negligence — a plant operator's failure, a landlord's neglected wiring, a contractor's unsafe site — that can support a civil claim well beyond workers' compensation.
The Delaware Valley combines heavy legacy industry with dense urban living, and both generate serious burns. The region's refining and chemical manufacturing along the Delaware River, its rail and port operations, its aging residential neighborhoods, and its active construction and demolition sector all produce recurring thermal, chemical, and electrical injuries.
Pennsylvania's Workers' Compensation Act (77 P.S. § 1 et seq.) requires virtually all employers to carry workers' compensation insurance, and when your employer is covered, workers' comp is generally the exclusive remedy against the employer — you usually cannot sue your employer directly for a work-related burn. However, important exceptions exist, and workers' comp does not limit your right to sue negligent third parties.
Pennsylvania law supports civil claims against parties whose negligence caused or contributed to your burn, including:
Pennsylvania's statute of limitations for personal injury claims is 2 years from the date of injury under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524. While limited exceptions exist — such as the discovery rule for latent chemical exposures — the vast majority of burn claims must be filed within two years of the accident. Because that window is relatively short and industrial and fire evidence can disappear quickly, acting promptly is essential.
Documentation from an academic medical center burn program is among the most persuasive evidence available in a burn case. Records from the Jefferson burn center typically include:
Your attorney will obtain these records with your written authorization and build your damages case around them. An experienced Pennsylvania burn injury attorney knows how to translate Jefferson's academic-grade clinical documentation into maximum recovery at settlement or trial.
If your burn was caused by someone else's negligence — a refinery or plant failure, a landlord's neglected wiring, an unsafe construction site, defective equipment, or a chemical supplier's failure to warn — you likely have a viable claim. Pennsylvania lets burn victims pursue third-party civil claims alongside workers' compensation. Treatment at an academic medical center burn program is itself strong evidence of injury severity. A free consultation will identify who is liable and what your claim may be worth. Call us or submit the form above — no fee unless you win.
Pennsylvania's statute of limitations for personal injury claims is 2 years from the date of injury under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524. Limited exceptions such as the discovery rule can apply to latent chemical exposures, but the vast majority of burn claims must be filed within two years. Two years is a short window while you are recovering from serious burns, so early action matters — OSHA files, fire investigation records, equipment, and witnesses can be lost within days or weeks. Contact an attorney as soon as you are medically able.
Yes. Under HIPAA you have the right to copies of your complete medical records from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital / Jefferson Health. You can submit a written authorization to the hospital's medical records department, or authorize your attorney to request the records for you — usually the most efficient approach when the records are needed for litigation.
Get a free case review from a burn injury attorney familiar with Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.
Pennsylvania's 2-year statute of limitations means you cannot wait. Evidence disappears, memories fade, and witnesses become unreachable. Get your free review today and protect your rights.
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