Temple University School of Medicine - Skull Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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The Philadelphia General Hospital 28

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The Municipal Hospital THE Municipal Hospital, or, the Philadelphia Hospital for Contagious Diseases, had its origin in the “Pest House founded in 1726 at Ninth and Spruce Streets. From that time until 1865 it disappeared and reappeared many times, each time at a site more remote from the center of the rapidly expanding city. In the latter years, it was housed in the crudest of quarters at Twenty-second Street and Lehigh Avenue, where it served the city until 1909. In 1909, the present group of about 31 separate buildings was erected at a cost of approximately $2,000,000. The distant spot at Second and Luzerne, upon which the buildings stand, was selected because, in the words of Dr. Samuel S. Woody, who became Medical Director and Superintendent in 1908, “with everyone holding the misconception that infectious diseases were disseminated through the air, it was thought that no more isolated spot could be found than this, which was, and is, bounded by farm land, a brick yard, and two cemeteries. Since 1900, the wards of this large hospital have been open for the clinical instruct tion in contagious diseases of the medical students of Philadelphia. Of 7000 students who availed themselves of the clinical material at the institution only five contracted a contagious disease, according to a survey by Dr. Woody. The hospital can take care of 1,100 patients at one time and is probably the largest hospital for contagious dis' eases in the Western Hemisphere. Under the able guidance of its present youthful superintendent, Dr. Pascal F. Lucchesi, small groups of senior students are clinically introduced to the study of contagious disease. 27

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The Philadelphia General Hospital AT this hospital, the first institution founded on this continent expressly for the care of the sick and homeless, the senior and junior classes are heir to clinical instruction in all branches of the healing arts, given in the spirit of the proudest traditions of American medicine. In 1712, stimulated by the action of the Society of Friends in setting up provisions for the care and comfort of its impoverished members, the Council of Philadelphia voted for the creation of a workhouse. The Mayor and Commonality borrowed 5000 pounds from the Legislature, in 1729, to pay for “the erection of an Almshouse or Hospice for use of the poor of the city. A year later, “The Green Meadows, a square bounded by 3rd and 4th, and Spruce and Pine Streets, was purchased. The Philadelphia Almshouse was opened on this site, in 1732. The development of the Almshouse was paralleled by that of the Pennsylvania Hospital, which was established in 1753. About 1772, the managers of the Almshouse were asked to place its clinical material at the disposal of the students of the Medical School of the College of Philadelphia, later to become the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania. Thus, in its earliest years, the Almshouse became allied with medical instruction. The institution was moved to Tenth and Pine Streets in 1767, and was renamed the “Bettering House. Its growth was rapid and finally, in 1828, the State Legislature granted a large sum of money for the acquisition of a larger site for the hospital, almshouse, and associated departments. The choice of a site in Blockley Township on the west side of the Schuylkill River bestowed upon the hospital the unofficial name of “Bleckley , a name which is cherished in the annals of American medicine. And, in the words of Sir William Osier: “Here, far out in the country, the indigent, poor and afflicted, the alcoholic and the insane of Philadelphia came to be housed— ‘went over the hills to the poorhouse.' The name of “Philadelphia Hospital was proposed by Dr. Gerhard, famous for his work in differentiating typhus from typhoid fever, and, in 1902, this became the official title of the hospital. Its three main divisions became known as “The Philadelphia Hospital and Home for the Indigent, “The Philadelphia Hospital for the Insane, and the hospital proper, “The Philadelphia General Hospital. In 1906, a large tract of land was acquired in Byberry, and modern buildings were erected for the care of the insane and feeble minded. Ait present, only 20 remain of the original 187 acres purchased in 1928. Few of the old buildings remain standing, their places being occupied by modern edifices. The hospital has 2,515 beds and 60 bassinettes, and manages a large out-patient department. Its medical Superintendent is Dr. Win. G. Turnbull. And its influence on American medicine, strikingly shown in the fact that 29 major medical schools were founded by men who received training in “Old Blockley , continues. 29