The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County

Today's blog post once again makes use of photos sent by my friend and former coworker, Sheila Clever, who works at the subject location. Thank you, Sheila! I also want to say thank you to my mother's dear friend, Mitzi Smith, who recently provided me with the 1991 edition of the Guide to the State Historical Markers of Pennsylvania as well as a pile of information regarding George Taylor, which will all be of use to me in publishing this blog. So thank you very much!

I admit I was slightly surprised to receive these photos, because it managed to escape my notice that the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has its own historical marker, which it received in 2007. However, I haven't been there in - well, more years than I want to admit. I was a patient, a long time ago, and I know they do great things there.

The marker is located outside the hospital
at the intersection of 34th Street and
Civic Center Boulevard; image
courtesy of Sheila Clever

The hospital had humble beginnings back in 1855. At the time, Philadelphia was suffering from a number of illnesses, and more than ten thousand people died in that year alone. This included hundreds of children succumbing to infectious diseases, including typhoid, scarlet fever, and smallpox. Over in London, meanwhile, just a few years earlier, the city had established the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, and Philadelphia physician Francis West Lewis had gone to see it for himself.

Finding the London hospital a source of inspiration, Lewis returned to Philadelphia and enlisted the help of two of his friends and colleagues, T. Hewson Bache and R. A. F. Penrose. Together, they worked to establish the first hospital in the United States which was exclusively dedicated to treating and curing the illnesses and injuries of children. I imagine it was about as easy as it sounds. The original hospital building was situated on Blight Street, which is today called Watts Street, and consisted of 12 beds and a dispensary (the office in charge of distributing medicine). In the first year alone, the doctors of CHOP treated more than 300 patients. Because of its mission, CHOP has always relied on the generosity of the community, and the community has always responded well to the call - in the first year of operation, they received about $4,000 in public contributions. (That's just over $117,000 in today's money.)

The entrance to CHOP; image courtesy
of Sheila Clever

By 1866, the hospital had outgrown its initial location; so after the end of the American Civil War, it was relocated to 22nd Street, where they increased to 35 beds. By 1870, surgery was being performed at the hospital. Over the next several years they increased their facilities by adding a nursing school and other educational programs, as well as a long-term care facility and a laboratory. An expansion was constructed in 1916, and three years later the hospital became affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

More and more research and educational programs were developed at CHOP. They were the first hospital to provide formal medical training for doctors focused on children's health. It was also the first place to used a closed incubator for newborns, and in 1962, Dr. C. Everett Koop (the guy who would later put the warnings on cigarettes) led them in opening the first neonatal intensive care unit.

Image courtesy of Sheila Clever

The hospital's current location was constructed in 1974, adjacent to the University of Pennsylvania. Since then they've gone on to do even bigger and better things - the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute is among the largest research facilities in the United States for children's medicine. They've also created the CHOP Care Network, which includes more than fifty hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and is the biggest network of its kind. CHOP works closely with the Philadelphia chapter of the Ronald McDonald House, which helps the families of patients stay near the hospital so they can be with their kids while they receive treatment.

Edit 8/7/2019: Karen Galle, of the PHMC, contacted me to let me know that the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House will be receiving its own marker on October 15th of this year. So congratulations to them!

Over the years, CHOP has been a leader in pediatric medicine. In addition to the medical "firsts" I've already mentioned, they were the first hospital to create a follow-up program for long-term survivors of pediatric cancer; the first to find the cause of infectious mononucleosis; the first to use a balloon catheter to treat heart defects; and the first to develop vaccines for whooping cough, rotavirus, the mumps, and influenza. That's just a sampling - their history page has a full list. They have been consistently rated as one of the best hospitals in the United States, and the world, for years, receiving many awards.

I can't really put it better than CHOP does themselves on their website: "At the center of every decision is a commitment to advancing healthcare for children through the integration of safe, high-quality, family-centered care with innovative research and professional education. Today, patients around the world benefit from our major research advances in a variety of areas including cardiac, genetics, cancer, fetal surgery, neonatology, and automobile safety."

For over 150 years, they've been the reason that thousands of young patients have survived their childhoods. I'm one of them.

---

Sources and Further Reading:

Official website of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

After the Injury - CHOP's website about injury recovery

CHOP on Facebook

CHOP on Twitter

CHOP on Instagram

CHOP on YouTube

Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House

Bell, Madeline. Images of America: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Arcadia Publishing, 2015.

CHOP at the Historical Marker Database

If you've enjoyed this, please leave a comment!

---

Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.