100 Fun Facts - Doylestown Health Foundation

DID YOU KNOW? 100 FACTS AND FIGURES TO CELEBRATE OUR CENTENNIAL

What are some of the most meaningful, interesting, and perhaps little-known facts and figures from our first 100 years?

Did you know?

When the hospital opened in 1923, the cost of board and nursing care for any patient was $2.50/day.
In 2008, Doylestown Hospital became the first hospital in Bucks County to acquire a da Vinci surgical robot for use in surgeries and procedures.
Doylestown Hospital initially opened with eight beds for maternity and emergency care.
The first Children’s Village opened in January 1985, as a dedicated daycare center for employees’ children.
Jaromir “Jerry” Marik, became the first appointed administrator of Doylestown Hospital in 1960.
When the hospital moved to Belmont and Spruce in 1939, the old hospital on Oakland Avenue was sold for $7,500.
In 1970, the first pacemaker was implanted in a Doylestown Hospital patient.
The first operating room at the first Doylestown Hospital was constructed in memory of John Stover Fretz with money donated by his widow.
In December 1968, the first triplets (three girls) were born in the hospital with the help of Dr. Eugene Helsel.
The first nurse hired by the Village Improvement Association of Doylestown (VIA) started in 1916 for a $1,000 annual salary.
The Hospice program, developed in 1982-83, was the third hospice program in the state of PA to receive JCAHO accreditation.
In August 1924, the hospital purchased its first anesthesia machine at the discretion of Dr. F.B. Swartzlander.
The Cardiac Cath Lab celebrated its 1000^th catheterization in 1995.
Oscar Hammerstein, famous for his work in American theater, moved to Bucks County in the 1930s and sat on the Doylestown Hospital steering committee in the 1950s.
The first gift shop and snack bar at the hospital was opened in May 1960.
Harriet Davis became the first female physician at Doylestown Hospital in 1942 as a baby clinic physician.
On February 16, 1947, 23 doctors formed Doylestown Hospital’s first medical board.
Doylestown Health Foundation rolled out its first official capital fundraiser called “Advance ‘91” in 1988 to finance the new main wing of the hospital. The final total raised was $2,470,271.
The hospital performed its first open-heart surgery on July 18^th 2000.
Betty Clarendon Pearsall Simon (1924) was the first baby born at the Oakland Avenue hospital. She eventually became a member of VIA.
Miss Munsey, one of the early full-time nurses, was known for riding her bike and passing out penny candy to children.
The first legacy estate gift to the hospital came in 1935 from patient Isaiah W. Closson for nearly $50,000.
The first baby born at the Belmont and Spruce location was named Nancy Closson Labs, her middle name in honor of Isaiah Closson, whose estate donation made the second hospital purchase possible.
In September 1975, the hospital opened its first school of radiology and provided a two-year course that ran for twenty years before college programs began filling this need.
The first nursing assistant for the hospital started in May 1924 for $15 a week.
The first volunteer chaplaincy program started in April 1965, sponsored by the Central Bucks Christian Council, to provide spiritual counsel for hospital patients.
In Fiscal Year 1981, Doylestown Hospital saw 933 births, 5,436 operations, and 188,320 laboratory procedures.
The VIA purchased 50 acres of land from Delaware Valley College for the current hospital location in 1971 for $332,934.
The first baby born in the Emergency Department at the current hospital location on State Street was Peter Smith at 11:05 am on moving day November 15, 1975.
The hospital’s first Psychiatric Unit was founded in 1978 and offered 18 beds for short-term treatment.
In 1973, the hospital had 112 medical staff members.
In 1970, the first pacemaker was implanted in a Doylestown Hospital patient.
The hospital purchased Pine Run Retirement Community on May 5, 1992.
In April 1933, the VIA Visiting Nurses program made 305 visits to 59 patients and spent 336.5 total hours on duty for the month.
In 1978-79, the Volunteer Services included 595 active volunteers who gave 60,370 hours of service.
The first Free Clinic at Doylestown Hospital was established in October 1994.
In May 2013, Doylestown Hospital became the first hospital in the state of Pennsylvania to perform a single-incision hysterectomy with the da Vinci surgical robot.
More than 2,000 community members attended the opening celebration of the second Doylestown Emergency Hospital location on Belmont and Spruce in 1939.
In 1983, the hospital had 942 full-time and part-time employees, 150 medical staff members, and 935 volunteers.
On January 14, 1971 Doylestown Hospital held its first prenatal class in which fathers were invited to join their wives for education if they wished to be present for labor and delivery.
Doylestown Health opened its first Medication Disposal Box in the Emergency Department lobby in December 2018 to allow the community to safely dispose of expired or unused medications.
In 2003, Doylestown Health performed its 1000^th cardiac surgical case in the Heart Institute.
Children’s Village opened their first Kindergarten classes in 1986 and their first summer camp (“Friendship Camp”) in 1990.
The first digital billing system for the hospital was initiated in early 1970.

From now until the end of 2023 we will release new facts and figures several times a month. Join in by sharing the “100 Facts and Figures” across your social media platforms with #DH100.

Do you have something to add? Join the conversation here.