The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is located near the University of Pennsylvania and is the first hospital in the U.S. to be solely dedicated to providing health care specifically for children. Over the years, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has been ranked among the top specialty hospitals in America. It has more than 500 beds, and nearly half of them are reserved for neonatal care, cardiac care and pediatric intensive care. Every year, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia admits nearly 30,000 children as inpatients and sees more than 1 million children in the ER and outpatient wards (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Annual Report, 2016).
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has played an important role in the community of Philadelphia since its inception in 1855. There were almost half a million people in Philadelphia at the time. Diseases like typhoid, small pox and scarlet fever were very dangerous and in one month in 1855, hundreds of children died from these diseases. One doctor decided there and then to establish the country’s very first hospital solely for children. His name was Dr. Francis West Lewis and he had the idea for a hospital like this because he had been to England and seen London’s Children’s Hospital. He decided to do the same in his city and he attracted some of his fellow doctors to help get the facility going (Bell, 2015). The first hospital had 12 beds and in its first year, it saw hundreds of patients. The second hospital was erected a decade later following the end of the Civil War. It tripled the number of beds of the first hospital and expanded its services. By the end of the century, it had nearly 100 beds and a nursing school to boot (“About the History of Children’s Hospital,” 2017).
The third hospital was erected in 1916 and lasted for nearly sixty years. This time, the...
The hospital developed a vaccine for whooping cough, implemented incubator usage for newborn babies, and established the country’s first neonatal ICU (“About the History of Children’s Hosptial,” 2017).
In the 1974, the new and current Children’s Hospital was erected right alongside the University of Pennsylvania. It had a helicopter transport that was used to move children who were in need of rapid transportation to the hospital. Over the years, the Children’s Hospital has intensified its focus on saving lives and advancing research into providing quality health care for children. Its research has included developing new techniques for treating congenital heart disease, vaccinations, ventilator care and much more (“About the History of Children’s Hospital,” 2017).
What sets Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia apart from other children’s hospitals in the U.S. is its deep and rich connection to the University of Pennsylvania and their mutual work together towards advancing research, technique, medicine, care, and safety. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is at the forefront of child health care because of its extensive history in the field, its alliance with the University’s School of Medicine, and the many doctors and nurses who practice there to help ensure that quality of care is among the highest in the country. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is a fully-loaded leading light in the health care industry and its role in taking child health care to the next level generation after generation is seen in all of the many milestones it has achieved over time. These include:
· Establishing the first training program designed specifically for pediatric physicians
· Establishing…
