February 11 Today in History
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February 11th, 1752, marks the grand opening of America's first hospital, the Pennsylvania Hospital. Founded by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Bond, the Pennsylvania Hospital was open for patients 24 years prior to the American colonies declaring independence from Great Britain.
The location of the Pennsylvania Hospital is in Philadelphia, at 8th and Spruce streets. Originally, the Pennsylvania Hospital was created to help treat the very sick and insane people walking the streets of Philadelphia. At this time mental illness was poorly understood, which lead to very bad treatment of the mentally ill.
This hospital was divided into 3 sections. The basement area was reserved for the mentally ill patients. The first floor of the hospital was the mens ward, the second floor was the womans ward, and the third floor was for the hospitals servants.
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Eventually, the hospital gained reputation as a center of medical advancement, especially in the area of maternity and women's health.
Finally, care of the mentally ill was removed in 1814 and was moved to west Philadelphia, the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital. Here, at this new institution, they developed a much better treatment philosophy for the mentally ill.
Today, the hospital is known for it's general and specialty surgical services such as behavioral health, neonatology, urology, neurosurgery, vascular surgery, and orthopedics.
Each year, the Pennsylvania Hospital has over 5,200 births, 29,000 inpatient admissions and 115,000 outpatient visits.
Oh, if only Ben Frank could see it now!
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