Since its founding in 1751 by Benjamin
Franklin and Dr. Thomas
Bond, Pennsylvania Hospital has been an innovator in patient
care, treatment techniques and medical research. In the years
since its founding, Pennsylvania Hospital has provided the
setting for many "firsts" of our nation, as well
as many other noteworthy medical, historical and cultural milestones.
On May 11, 1751, a charter is granted by the Pennsylvania
legislature to establish a hospital to care for the sick-poor
and insane who wander the streets of Philadelphia. The story
of the Good Samaritan is chosen by Franklin and Bond as the official
seal, and "Take Care of Him and I will repay Thee" ushers
in a new attitude of social responsibility.
A temporary hospital is opened in a house on High (Market)
Street and Elizabeth Gardner, a Quaker widow, is appointed matron.
written by Franklin, is laid for the East Wing of the building
at the hospital's current location of 8th and Pine, on land that
is purchased by the hospital, and patients are admitted in 1756.
The first book for the Medical
Library is donated by Dr.
John Fothergill, a British friend of Franklin's.
Thomas and Richard Penn donate adjoining property, giving
the hospital the entire square between Spruce and Pine streets
and 8th and 9th Streets.
the first medical resident, is appointed; he serves for five
It was proposed to the Board of Managers that a garden be
planted on the hospital grounds to provide physicians with ingredients
for medicines. The idea was approved, but financial circumstances
intervened and the project was delayed for two centuries. In
1976, the planting of the Physic
Garden was the Bicentenial project of the Philadelphia Committee
of the Garden Club of America and the Friends of Pennsylvania
Hospital. Located in front of the Pine Building's west wing,
the garden has plants that were used for medicine in the 18th
During the American Revolution,
the hospital takes care of both Continental and British soldiers,
endures the exile of four members of the Board of Managers and
suffers financially for years to come. Dr. Benjamin Rush, later
a staff member, writes a definitive treatise on military medicine
that serves the nation until the Civil War.
Given the hospital's dependency on candles for light and
on fireplaces for heating, the Board of Managers is understandably
concerned about fire prevention. An early American hand pumper
fire engine, characteristic of Philadelphia engine builder Richard
Mason's style, was purchased. The Board was so proud of its acquisition
that it is recorded in the Minutes of their meeting that "the
fire engine [shall be] played every month at the meetings of
the Board." This fire engine now sits on display in the
Great Court of the Pine Building.
Dr. Benjamin Rush,
on staff from 1783 until 1813, is a medical teacher, social reformer,
a signer of the Declaration of Independence and will come to
be known as the "father of American psychiatry." As
the hospital's reputation for the humane treatment of the mentally
ill grows, overcrowding is a recurrent problem.
Dr. Phillip Syng Physick is
appointed to the staff and serves until 1816. He achieves fame
through his surgical prowess and becomes known as the "father
of American surgery."
Construction of the second wing of the hospital, the West
Wing, is completed.
Continue to 1801-1850