First hospital in the United States, Pennsylvania Hospital, opens in Philadelphia

The nation’s capitol in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was generally prospering, with traders and ships arriving daily. But it was also growing at a rapid clip. Already the largest city within the colonies, its population went from 11,000 in the 1730s to 15,000 in 1750. More were coming every day, but without proper infrastructure to take care of so many people in a relatively small space, it was only a matter of time before infections and disease would break out. An idea for a hospital went out from one of the colonists, a physician trained in England and France, who was at the time serving as the Port Inspector for Contagious Diseases.

On this day, February 11, in 1753, the Pennsylvania Hospital admitted its first patients. The institution of hospitals was a completely new idea; they had not even taken hold outside of France. But Dr. Thomas Bond, the physician colonist, petitioned his good friend Benjamin Franklin to open one up in Philadelphia. Franklin was impressed by his friend’s enthusiasm and agreed.

Franklin himself executed a number of deft political maneuvers to get the hospital built. He extracted funding in the sum of 2,000 British pounds from the legislature by committing them to release the money or he would raise an equivalent amount from private citizens. While the hospital was still getting built, Franklin wrote on its cornerstone “Take care of him and I will repay thee,” the hospital’s unofficial motto.