THE HOSPITAL 
OF THE 
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
IN 
i 
PHILADELPHIA. HOSPITAL OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA. THE HOSPITAL 
OF THE * 
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
IN 
PHILADELPHIA: 
ITS ORIGIN, PROGRESS. WORK, AND WANTS. 
Published by order of the Board of Managers. 
PHILADELPHIA : 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
1869. CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER I. 
PAGE 
Origin of the Hospital.-Gift of Land.-Funds.-Hos- 
pital Opened.-An Interesting Case 9 
CHAPTER II. 
Demand for a New and Larger Building.-Raising of 
Funds.-Work Begun.-The Building Left Unfin- 
ished.-Who the First Patients were 15 
CHAPTER III. 
The Site.-The Neighborhood.-General Description 
of the Hospital.-Its Exterior.-Its Internal Ar- 
rangements 19 
CHAPTER IV. 
How the Hospital has fulfilled the Ideas with 
which it was begun 27 
CHAPTER V. 
What Remains to be Done.-Modes in which the Hos- 
pital may be Helped 31 
5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
Hospital of the Protestant episcopal church, Phila- 
delphia ...... Frontispiece. 
PAGE 
View of the leamy mansion 14 
Hospital-view from the south of centre building 
(with chapel) and of the west wing, with 
CONNECTING CORRIDORS AND VERANDAS . . .16 
Hospital - front view of centre building (on the 
left) and of west wing (on the right) . 20 
Hospital-view from the s. w., showing chapel and 
SOUTHERN PART OF THE WEST WING . . .22 
Hospital-interior of men's surgical ward . . .30 
Hospital-interior of the chapel 32 
Bird's-eye view from the south of the hospital . 36 
Ground plan of hospital 38 
7 THE HOSPITAL 
OF THE 
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA. 
CHAPTER I. 
ORIGIN OF THE HOSPITAL.-GIFT OF LAND.-FUNDS.-HOSPITAL 
OPENED.-AN INTERESTING CASE. 
TN this Hospital the Protestant Episcopal Church 
J- in the Diocese of Pennsylvania possesses a broad 
charity, which is intended to receive the benevo- 
lence of the whole Church and to pour it upon all 
sorts and conditions of men. 
Its claims, on the one hand, are believed to be as 
broad as humanity and Christian charity, and its 
duty, on the other hand, is recognized to be to em- 
brace in its care, to the full measure of its pecuniary 
ability, all suitable cases which apply for relief, 
without regard to their creed, color, or country. 
9 10 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
The objects of the Hospital are declared in its 
constitution to be: 
" 1. To provide medical and surgical aid and 
nursing for the sick and disabled, either in the 
wards of the Hospital or at their homes. 
"2. To instruct and train suitable persons in the 
duties of nursing and attending upon the sick. 
"3. To provide the instructions and consolations 
of religion, according to the principles of the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church, for those who are under 
the care of the Institution. 
"4. Such other purposes incidental and kindred 
to those above mentioned as the Board of Mana- 
gers, hereinafter to be provided, may prescribe." 
The Hospital owes its origin partly to the desires 
which existed in many hearts for such a broad char- 
ity, and partly to the imperative need which there 
was in our city for increased accommodation for the 
sick and wounded; for, while the population of the 
city had marvellously multiplied, there had been 
little increase in hospital accommodation for a cen- 
tury. 
The desires which had been felt for a Church hos- 
pital first took definite shape under the auspices of 
Bishop Potter. Under his general direction, those 
most interested in the project went actively to work. ORIGIN OF THE HOSPITAL. 
11 
They confirmed their own opinion of the need of a 
hospital by consulting a number of physicians, who, 
in response, issued "An Appeal in behalf of the 
sick," urging their claims upon the benevolence of 
our people. This was followed up by a variety of 
other efforts to awaken interest, and not without 
success. 
The first general preliminary meeting of clergy 
and laity was held March 14, 1851, when the fol- 
lowing action was taken: 
On motion of Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll, seconded by 
G. M. Wharton, Esq., 
Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting, an effort 
ought to be made to enlarge the hospital accommodations 
in the city and county of Philadelphia for the destitute 
sick. 
Resolved, That in the proposed institution the instruc- 
tions and consolations of religion ought to be regularly 
supplied to the inmates and attendants, and that to secure 
this end effectually, and in a way most conducive to Chris- 
tian charity, it is expedient that the effort be made under 
the auspices of Protestant Episcopalians. 
Resolved, That a committee of nine persons be ap- 
pointed, to consider and report to a future meeting the 
most eligible plan for the attainment of the object pro- 
posed. 12 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
The committee consisted of 
Rev. Dr. Howe, 
Rev. Mr. Odenheimer, 
Hon. J. R. Ingersoll, 
Dr. Caspar Morris, 
Mr. Peter McCall, 
Dr. William Keith, 
Mr. I. Fisher Leaming, 
Mr. G. M. Wharton, 
Mr. William Welsh. 
To which were added Bishop Potter and J. Welsh, Jr. 
Soon after the preliminary meeting at which 
the above resolutions were adopted, an organiza- 
tion was effected, and a charter obtained by 
authority of the State. 
The infant enterprise was greatly helped soon 
after this (March 3, 1852) by the munificent char- 
ity of the daughters of the late John Leamy, Esq., 
who gave a square of ground (about six acres), with 
the house upon it, which had been the home of 
their parents and the resort of their own youth, for 
the use of the Hospital.* 
* The offer of this gift was made without solicitation, under the 
influence of a sermon, preached in St. Andrew's Church, by the 
Rev. Dr. (now Bishop) Stevens. THE HOSPITAL OPENED. 
13 
Fifty thousand dollars also were collected from 
other friends of the enterprise for the endowment 
of the Hospital, besides funds for general pur- 
poses. 
Thus encouraged, the Managers determined to 
begin the care of the sick at once. The Leamy 
Mansion was, therefore, immediately put in proper 
condition for the reception of patients. It was 
formally opened, with suitable exercises, on Satur- 
day, December 11, 1852, but it was not until 
Christmas Eve that any call was made for its ser- 
vices. 
Among the first patients was a family of four per- 
sons, whose circumstances well illustrated the need 
which there was of a hospital, and the work which 
it was to do. 
A visitor introduced fever into the house in which 
the family resided. The mother sickened and died, 
leaving the husband and three children ill with the 
same disorder, without any care-taker, or means of 
providing one. When taken to the hospital, the 
father and oldest son were both trembling on the 
very verge of life. The two younger children were 
less seriously ill, though both required much attend- 
ance and nursing. They were suffering extremely 
from want of the commonest attentions, and would 14 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
doubtless all have perished but for the timely aid of 
the Institution. 
The Report of the Hospital, for the few weeks of 
the year 1852 during which it was open, shows that 
eleven cases in all were treated. Though an insig- 
nificant beginning, it was a beginning; and, as after- 
events have shown, a beginning attended by the 
abundant blessing of God. 
A photograph of the building in which the Insti- 
tution began its life will be found on the opposite 
page. Here it remained for ten years, from 300 to 
400 patients being received into its wards every 
year.* 
* Upon the removal of the patients to the new building, this 
house was loaned for a time to the Foster Home Association. It 
is now used as the Bishop Potter Memorial House for the training 
of Christian women in works of piety and charity. See Ap- 
pendix II. No. 2.-VIEW OF THE LEAMY MANSION, 
WHERE THE HOSPITAL BEGAN AND FOR TEN YEARS CONTINUED ITS OPERATIONS,-NOW THE BISHOP POTTER 
MEMORIAL HOUSE FOR THE TRAINING OF CHRISTIAN WOMEN. CHAPTER II. 
DEMAND FOR A NEW AND LARGER BUILDING.-RAISING OF FUNDS.- 
WORK BEGUN.-THE BUILDING LEFT UNFINISHED.-WHO THE FIRST 
PATIENTS WERE. 
rjHE years during which the Hospital remained 
in the Leamy Mansion, while fruitful in good, 
were a period of embarrassment and distress to the 
officers and best friends of the Institution. The 
occupation of the house as a hospital had never 
been intended by the generous donors, nor had it 
been adopted by the Managers except as an ar- 
rangement of the most temporary kind. The house 
was so small that, notwithstanding the greatest 
economy in the use of room, numbers of worthy 
applicants had month after month to be turned 
from its doors. Its apartments, commodious and 
excellent for a private family, were too small and 
ill-ventilated for hospital purposes; and it was im- 
possible to warm them sufficiently, or to arrange 
them for a proper classification of the sick. 
Under these circumstances, appeal after appeal 
was made to the public for the means to build a 
15 THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
16 
hospital which would meet the demands of the 
sick and be worthy of the Church. 
They were not in vain. 
One Christian woman gave $20,000 for the pur- 
pose of building a chapel. 
Another undertook to raise $600 per year for the 
support of a chaplain. 
She also later provided a permanent fund for 
this purpose, by transferring to the Hospital a 
legacy of $10,000. 
A third bequeathed the Institution $15,000 ; and 
by earnest efforts a sufficient amount ($100,000, 
with the prospect of its increase within the follow- 
ing year) was raised to justify the beginning of the 
work of building.* 
The architectural plans of Mr. Samuel Sloan, out 
of a number presented, were adopted by the Board 
of Managers; and on the 24th day of May, 1860, 
the corner-stone of the new edifice was laid by 
Bishop Potter, assisted by Bishop Bowman, in the 
presence of the whole diocese of Pennsylvania, as 
represented by her clergy and lay delegates as- 
* The first contribution toward this fund was from the estate 
of the late Josiah Dawson, given by his executors under his will 
out of a fund set apart by the testator for benevolent purposes. 
The donor and his executors were all of the Society of Friends. No. 3.-HOSPITAL-VIEW FROM THE SOUTH OF CENTRE BUILDING (WITH CHAPEL) AND 
OF THE WEST WING, WITH CONNECTING CORRIDORS AND VERANDAS. WORK BEGUN. 
17 
sembled for their Annual Convention, and an im- 
mense concourse of deeply interested spectators. 
The work progressed satisfactorily during the 
remainder of the year 1860, the year 1861, and the 
beginning of the year 1862. 
The funds in hand did not justify the Managers 
in attempting to raise any more of the building 
than the chapel, the centre building, and the west 
wing. These portions were approaching com- 
pletion in the summer of the year 1862, when, in 
the Providence of God, a demand was made for 
their immediate occupation. The Government, un- 
able to provide for the soldiers who were wounded 
in the campaign of the Peninsula, called for the 
use of the Hospital. As many soldiers as could be 
accommodated in the few wards that were in 
readiness were immediately taken. The work of 
finishing the building was urged on ; and, as soon as 
floors were laid, additional wards, and even the 
corridors, parlors, and dining-rooms, were thrown 
open to the wounded, until over three hundred 
were accommodated. 
The misery of the men, in many cases covered 
with mud, and with terrible wounds untouched for 
days, and their delight in getting into what seemed 18 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
to them like a Paradise, were alike beyond the 
powers of description. 
The new building was thus used for nine months, 
until the Government provided hospitals of its 
own. 
The Medical Board rendered their services with- 
out fee or reward. Churches undertook the pro- 
viding of cots and furnishings. Liberal supplies 
for the patients, in the shape of books, clothing, 
articles of diet, lint and bandages, were poured in 
from many Christian helpers. Miners on the 
Schuylkill sent a liberal donation of one hundred 
and ninety-five tons of coal. And Christian women 
were untiring at the bedside of the wounded in the 
countless services of friend and nurse. CHAPTER III. 
THE SITE.-THE NEIGHBORHOOD.-GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE 
BUILDING.-ITS EXTERIOR.-ITS INTERNAL ARRANGEMENTS. 
OOON after the original gift of land by Miss 
Leamy and Mrs. Stout, the Hospital ac- 
quired, by purchase, an additional square of ground 
on the east; and, recently, a lot on the north side 
of Lehigh Avenue, immediately in front of the 
Hospital.* 
The Hospital building is situated on the west- 
ern part of the property, and fronts on Lehigh 
Avenue, a street one hundred and twenty feet in 
width. 
The site has an elevation of fifty feet above high- 
water mark. 
The Institution is in the midst of a very large 
population of those most apt to need its help,-the 
working-classes and the poor. Large factories sur- 
* On this lot, the possession of which was thought essential to 
the interests of the Hospital, $20,000 are now due. 
19 20 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
round it on all sides, and eight railroads converge 
in its neighborhood. 
The accidents which arise from both these sources 
call largely for its care, fifty-two sufferers from 
railroad accidents having been treated in the wards 
during the past year. 
The building is in the Norman style, modified to 
suit its purposes and character. 
It will now be described, for the sake of conve- 
nience, as though it were completed, though in 
fact the east wing has not yet been begun. 
The Hospital consists of a centre building (from 
which the chapel stretches out to the south), with a 
long wing on each side, connected with the centre 
building by covered corridors. (See Bird's-eye View 
of Hospital.) 
These connecting corridors are fifteen feet wide, 
and run directly across the building from its ex- 
treme east to its extreme west. 
On their southern side verandas are placed, so as 
to afford a pleasant promenade, in suitable weather, 
for convalescent patients. (See View No. 3.) 
Each wing consists of a front and a rear portion, 
the front portion being in each wing three stories 
high, and the rear portion two stories high, with an 
attic. No. 4.-HOSPITAL-FRONT VIEW OF CENTRE BUILDING (ON THE LEFT) AND OF THE 
WEST WING (ON THE RIGHT). DESCRIPTION' OF THE BUILDING. 
21 
The Hospital is thus made up of three parallel 
pavilions: one in the centre building, and one in 
each wing. 
The number of these parallel pavilions may be 
indefinitely multiplied. 
The outline of the building was suggested by the 
Parisian Hdpital Lariboisiere, of European celebrity, 
in which the advantages of the parallel pavilions 
have been clearly demonstrated. 
The depth of the centre building, with the ad- 
joining chapel, is two hundred and fifty-six feet. 
The depth of the wings is two hundred feet. 
The whole front, including the centre building 
and the wings, with the connecting corridors, is 
two hundred and fifty-eight feet. 
The centre building is three stories high, with a 
basement, open area, and cellar, the stories being 
fifteen feet high in the clear; each floor on a level 
with those of the wings. 
The kitchen, and store-rooms of different kinds, 
occupy the basement. The first story above these 
is used in the front portion for administration pur- 
poses and other requirements of the Managers 
and officers. 
The front part of the second story is occupied by 
the Hannah ward, containing ten beds. This ward 22 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
is devoted to the care of women suffering from dis- 
eases of the heart and lungs, and was founded by 
Miss Grasby, its name being given to it in honor of 
her mother. 
In the rear part of the second story of the centre 
building is the operating theatre, with patients' 
rooms. 
The third story and attic are occupied by apart- 
ments for officers and servants. 
On the rear, and adjoining the centre building, 
is the chapel. This seats about three hundred and 
fifty persons, and is accessible to the patients from 
all the wards. There are outside porches for the 
use of persons coming from the neighborhood. 
The style of this chapel so far deviates from the 
Norman as to be properly termed early English 
merging into the Perpendicular, being an inten- 
tional variation from the general style of the 
edifice. 
The front portions of each of the wings are three 
stories high, with an attic, and are principally in- 
tended for the domestic uses of the establishment. 
Here are pleasant dining-rooms, in which those 
who are well enough to walk, or wheel themselves 
in chairs, go to eat their meals away from scenes of 
sickness. Here, too, are cheerful libraries, where No. 5.-HOSPITAL-VIEW FROM THE SOUTHWEST, SHOWING CHAPEL AND SOUTHERN 
PART OF THE WEST WING. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING. 
23 
the patients read and otherwise amuse themselves; 
and where, too, they meet on stated occasions in 
Bible-classes. 
These portions of the building contain, as well, 
the special diet-kitchens, nurses' rooms, closets, 
lifts, and stairs. They also contain smaller wards, 
one on each floor. Two of these smaller wards are 
now used for sick children, and will be to the 
visitor one of the most interesting parts of the 
Hospital. 
The rear portion of each wing consists of an 
elevated basement, two stories, and an attic, these 
stories and attics being entirely occupied with wards 
for patients. 
The basement of the finished wing is occupied by 
rooms for peculiar cases, for dispensary purposes, 
and for Sunday-schools, Bible-classes, and the other 
missionary agencies of the Hospital, of which more 
will be said hereafter. 
The capacity of the whole building may be set 
down as three hundred beds* for all classes and de- 
scriptions of patients. 
* The portion of the Hospital now in use will accommodate 
about two hundred beds. The present annual income, however, 
including the board of pay-patients, will only support about 
ninety-eight. 24 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
Towers, built for the purpose, and placed on the 
two external angles of each of the two wings, con- 
tain the wash-room, bath-rooms, water-closets, and 
slop-closets belonging to the long wards. These 
apartments are outside of the two ends of the 
wards, although adjoining them. Similar rooms 
are attached to the other wards. 
A reservoir capable of containing about two 
thousand gallons of water is placed in each of the 
towers. 
The warming and ventilation of the Institution 
have received the greatest attention, and provision 
has been made for them in the light of the most 
advanced science of the day. It is impossible to 
describe them here; but they will be found well 
worthy of the examination of persons interested in 
such subjects. 
Every effort has been made to secure cheerfulness 
in the building, and to avoid the obstruction or 
stagnation of air. All the rooms, closets, and pas- 
sages, large and small, as well as the wards and cor- 
ridors, are so arranged and connected as to be 
invariably well lighted and ventilated; so that not 
a dark or close hole or corner is found in the whole 
structure. For the same purpose, the wards and 
ward pavilions, the operating-room, and the chapel, DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING. 
25 
have all been so placed as to be exposed to the 
greatest amount of sunshine throughout the day, 
and to the free play of prevalent summer winds. 
It is believed that the edifice combines the largest 
number of advantages with the fewest disadvantages 
in its practical adaptation to the great end in view, 
of providing the greatest amount of health-restoring 
influences and the greatest facility of administra- 
tion. 
All the exterior walls are rubble-work, of stone 
selected with reference to its architectural fitness 
and durability. The roofs are of slate, that of the 
chapel varied in form from that on the other por- 
tions of the building. 
A correct general idea of the building is derived 
from the foregoing brief description, although many 
important details have been purposely omitted. A 
full enumeration of these would inconveniently 
swell this description. 
It remains only to state that there is an inde- 
pendent one-story building, of eighty feet square, in 
which are the laundry and drying rooms, a room 
for post-mortem examinations, rooms for the recep- 
tion of the friends of deceased persons on funeral 
occasions, and a room for the gate-keeper. This 
building also contains the boilers which supply the 26 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
steam for cooking and for heating the entire estab- 
lishment, a machine-shop, and extensive room for 
the storage of coal. 
This building is connected with the main build- 
ing by a well-lighted subterranean passage-way, 
through which entrance may be had to the Hos- 
pital for all its operations. 
Such is the Hospital as planned by the architect 
and as it exists in the wishes of its friends. 
But, unfortunately, it has not been finished. 
The Managers did not feel justified in incurring 
debt. The money which was placed at their dis- 
posal was sufficient to finish only the centre build- 
ing, the chapel, and the west wing; and in this 
unfinished condition the Hospital now remains. CHAPTER IV. 
HOW THE HOSPITAL HAS FULFILLED THE IDEAS WITH WHICH IT WAS 
BEGUN. 
rpHE work which the Hospital has done in caring 
for the sick and injured will be appreciated 
■when it is known that during the years in which its 
operations were carried on in the Leamy Mansion, 
three thousand and fifty-two patients were cared 
for in the wards, and twenty-four thousand five 
hundred and forty-nine in the dispensary, and that 
since the new building has been occupied, three 
thousand five hundred and thirty-eight patients 
have been treated in the wards, and thirty thousand 
and fifteen in the dispensary. 
Of the patients treated in the wards, four thou- 
sand four hundred and thirteen were discharged 
cured, fifteen hundred and thirty-two were dis- 
charged improved, and five hundred and sixty- 
five died. 
The total number under care in the wards since 
the opening of the Hospital has been six thousand 
five hundred and ninety. 
27 28 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
There were under treatment, in addition to the 
civil patients, from July 30, 1862, to March 18, 
1867, seven hundred and five sick and wounded 
soldiers; thirty-three were removed by death; the 
remaining portion were either returned for duty, 
or otherwise discharged as no longer fitted for duty 
in the army of the United States. 
But it was intended that in the Hospital special 
efforts should be made to add to medical and surgical care 
efforts to bring to the patients the everlasting consolation 
and good hope which are to be found in the Gospel. And, 
accordingly, the Hospital has a chaplain. The voice 
of prayer and praise is heard daily in the chapel. Ser- 
vices are held, too, as occasion requires, in the wards, 
while Christian women (from the adjacent Bishop 
Potter Memorial House, and from the city) seek, by 
their sympathy and deeds of kindness to the sick, to 
open a way for Him who giveth peace which no 
man can take away. Their presence secures to the 
Hospital that tone which only the presence of re- 
fined women can bestow. They attend to the prep- 
aration of the special diet which is issued in the 
wards, and see that it is properly served; they give 
directions as to personal cleanliness, and to other 
proprieties of life; and they comfort the patients by 
numberless acts of kindness, writing letters for them, INTERESTING MISSIONARY WORK. 
29 
and giving them secular instruction, and teaching 
daily Bible-classes. 
There is every reason to believe that their efforts 
have been in a high degree successful. We are told 
that " scores of men have formed the habit of pray- 
ing nightly by their bedsides when in the Hospital, 
who had never bent their knees since early child- 
hood. Scores of men have gone systematically 
through a Gospel or an Epistle read with some of 
the Visitors, and have thus acquired an interest in 
studying the Scriptures for themselves. And some 
of the wildest specimens of humanity have been 
tamed." 
This seems the proper place to mention the large 
and most interesting missionary work -which has 
sprung up out of the abundance of the Christian 
love which the Hospital has, through the grace of 
God, begotten in some of those who have been 
laboring in it. From two hundred and fifty to three 
hundred persons from outside have been led through 
their efforts to attend the services in the chapel 
on Sundays. There is a sewing-school for little 
girls, numbering ninety scholars; a night-school for 
young men, with thirty-five members, and another 
for girls, with forty members; a mothers' meeting, 
with an attendance of ninety-five mothers; two 30 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
Bible-classes for women, one numbering thirty and 
the other sixty; and three Bible-classes for men, 
one with twenty-four members, a second with 
twenty-two, and the third with one hundred and 
twenty-five. 
This last class supported a free bed in the Hospital 
last year, besides contributing sixty-nine dollars to 
Domestic and Foreign Missions. 
Though the work has grown up in connection 
with the Hospital, it does not derive its support 
from the Hospital Treasury. 
Another idea with which the Hospital was begun 
was that the Hospital, though a Church hospital, 
should open its doors to all, without regard to creed, color, 
or country. 
The records show that the patients have been 
both whites and blacks, Protestants and Romanists, 
Americans, Irish, English, and, indeed, of almost 
every nation under heaven. 
Under these circumstances, is it unreasonable if 
the Board of Managers appeals for aid not only to 
members of the Episcopal Church, but as universally 
as it confers its benefits ? No. 7.-HOSPITAL-INTERIOR OF MEN' S SURGICAL WARD. CHAPTER V. 
WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE.-MODES IN WHICH THE HOSPITAL MAY 
BE HELPED. 
BY the blessing of God, the Hospital has been able, 
year by year, from the very first, to increase 
the range of its beneficent work. 
During the year 1854, between two and three 
hundred patients were treated in its wards; but 
there was no dispensary. 
In the year 1867, over nine hundred patients were 
nursed in its wards, and over six thousand patients 
prescribed for in the dispensary. 
But the demand has-alas I-always been far in 
excess of the ability of the Institution to meet it. 
In the Report for the year 1855, the Managers 
speak of "the repeated applications for admission 
when the number was completely filled up, and 
which it was necessary to reject." 
In 1856, they say, "The fact that the Hospital is 
at all times full, and that many apply for admission 
who cannot be received for lack of room, is an em- 
31 32 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
phatic token that new and more extended buildings 
are required." 
In 1857, they report that the wards were fre- 
quently overcrowded, and that even this overcrowd- 
ing was so far from meeting the demand for places, 
that for some time five applicants were said to have 
been rejected for every one admitted. 
The excess of the demand over the ability of the 
Institution still continues; and it could this moment 
do twice the amount of good which it is doing, did 
the capacity of the buildings, and the money placed 
in the hands of the Managers, permit the Institution 
to open its doors to all the worthy and suitable cases 
that apply. 
The unfinished state of the building, which strikes 
the eye so forcibly on a comparison of the Hospital 
as it is with the Hospital as it would be if com- 
pleted, and which seems to proclaim, " These men 
began to build, and were not able to finish the 
great inconveniences which arise from the present 
contracted size of the Hospital, and which make it 
necessary to have the male and female patients in 
the same wing,-a very serious evil, confining, as it 
does, the women to the uppermost parts of the build- 
ing, and interfering with their free access to the 
grounds; and, above all, the sad necessity which No. 8.-HOSPITAL-INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL. WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE. 
33 
the Institution now labors under, of turning worthy 
and suitable applicants for refuge from its doors; 
constitute an appeal to the humane and liberal- 
minded to which words can add no power, and im- 
peratively demand that the eastern wing shall be 
erected at the earliest possible date.* 
The Hospital is an embodiment of the highest 
form of Christian charity. It combines arrange- 
ments for the comfort and relief of the sick, made 
in the light of the most advanced science of the 
day, which perhaps are nowhere surpassed. Its 
provision for the moral and spiritual well-being of 
the patients is judicious and efficient. For sixteen 
years it has been growing in usefulness, until last 
year nine hundred sufferers found refuge in its wards, 
and over six thousand cases were treated in its dis- 
pensary. 
Such an institution is an honor to our city and to 
our Church. 
If they did well who began it, they will do well 
* For evidence of the crying need of increased accommodation 
for the destitute sick, see Appendix I. The statement there 
made was drawn up with great care by a prominent physi- 
cian of the city. 
Though made in the year 1853, the facts are relatively true at 
the present date. 34 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
who shall help to continue it. Each noble gift it 
has received, each earnest effort made in its behalf, 
calls upon those who can feel for the suffering, who 
can admire a beneficent act, who realize that they 
will be called upon to give an account of their stew- 
ardship, to go and do likewise. 
The appeal addresses itself to those who are well, 
and demands a thank-offering for health in the shape 
of gifts for the relief of those who are sick. 
It addresses itself to those who have been watch- 
ing by the bedsides of sick fathers and mothers, sick 
husbands and wives, sick children, and reminds them 
that there are thousands of the children of poverty, 
as sick as those whom they have been caring for, 
who lie uncared for, and destitute of the comforts 
and necessaries of the sick-room, because they have 
not the money which could command them. No 
ice cools their fevered lips. No dainty preparation 
tempts their failing appetites. And when at last, 
driven by continued sickness from their homes, 
they ask for care and shelter within the walls of 
our Hospital, they too often are of necessity re- 
fused. 
The appeal addresses itself to convalescents, and 
implores them to remember that others are lying 
down upon the beds of sickness from which they WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE. 
35 
are rising up. Some of them are incurably sick. 
Would not convalescents provide for their care in 
our Hospital, and so smooth their pathway to the 
grave? Others will get well and be restored to 
active life if they have the attendance and nursing 
which the Hospital affords. Will not convalescents 
do what they can to enable the Hospital to receive 
them? 
The appeal addresses itself to the aged, and warns 
them to keep their hearts from growing old and 
■withered, by deeds of mercy and of love. 
And, lastly, the appeal comes to those who are 
the survivors and heirs of loved ones who rest from 
their labors, and calls upon them to be the friends 
of the sick and injured who, tossing upon beds 
of pain, know no rest by night nor by day. 
But the question will be asked,- 
" How can one best help this great charity?" 
1st. Let its objects be well understood,-to care 
for the sick and wounded, and to offer to them the 
consolations of the Gospel. 
2d. That understanding will beget an active sym- 
pathy for those objects, which may be shown in a 
variety of forms: 
a. By prayer, for the restoration, relief, and illu- 
mination of its inmates; for its officers, that they 36 
THE EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 
may all be faithful in the performance of their 
duties; and that means may be bountifully sup- 
plied for its support. 
b. By earnest personal efforts in its behalf, in- 
ducing persons to visit and examine the Hospital, 
and calling their attention to it as a channel of pure 
benevolence, where a sum invested will secure its 
benefits in perpetuity, "without regard to creed, 
color, or country." 
c. By personal services, either in its wards or its 
missionary department. 
d. By donations in supplies, in medicines, in 
household articles for the use of the Hospital, and 
in books for its wards and library. 
e. By direct contributions in money, needed to 
defray the current expenses, which materially ex- 
ceed the income, and to extend its benefits to the 
full capacity of the Hospital for the reception of 
patients, now limited by the want of means; and 
by annual contributions on Thanksgiving day 
through the offertory in any parish in the diocese,- 
the collection on that day, by request of the Conven- 
tion, being appropriated to the Hospital. 
f. By the rector of each church in the diocese 
taking care that his people are made acquainted 
with the character of the Hospital, and giving them No. 9.-HOSPITAL-BIRD'S-EYE VIEW FROM THE SOUTH OF THE HOSPITAL AS IT 
WILL BE WHEN COMPLETED. (From Architect's Plans.) MODES OF HELPING THE HOSPITAL. 
37 
timely advice of an opportunity to contribute to it 
through the offertory on Thanksgiving day. 
g. By endowing free beds, either by the payment 
of two hundred dollars a year or a principal sum 
which will yield a yearly income of that amount. 
A. By the devotion of money by will to the Hos- 
pital the income from which cannot be spared 
during life. 
i. By founding a ward of such a character (con- 
sistent with the objects of the Hospital) as the donor 
may prefer,-the cost of which will be five thousand 
dollars for each bed it shall contain. 
k. By contributions for the erection of the east 
wing, which is much needed, that its wards may be 
occupied by females exclusively, and those of the 
west wing by males,-a classification essential to the 
proper management of the Hospital. The cost of 
the east wing will be one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand dollars. 
(There are two or three persons ready to unite 
in its construction, who await an increase in their 
number, and will be happy to hear, through the 
Secretary, Rev. John A. Childs, from any who are 
willing to join them.) CEN'IRE BUILDING. 
1 Library and Managers' Room, 
23' B" X 51. 
2 Steward s Room, 19' 6" X 13' 
6". 
3 Apothecary's Room, 19' 6' X 
4 Hal), 12' wide. 
5 5 Corridor, 15' wide. 
6 6 Closets. 
7 7 Dumb Waiters. 
8 8 Chambers. 15' X 20' 6". 
9 Officers' Dining Room, 15' X 
20' 6". 
10 Chaplain's Room, 15' X 20' 
6r. 
II 11 Porches. 
12 Vestibule. 
13 Chapel, 103' long. 
14 Study. 
15 Organ. 
16 Chancel. 
WINGS. 
1 Ward Library, 14' X 
2 Dining Room^ 14' 20'. 
3 3 Closets. 
4 Private Ward, 6 Beds, 14' X 
° 5 Lift. 
6 Ward Kitchen, 14'X 
7 Nurse's Room, 14' X 12'. 
X Bath Room and Water Closets. 
9 Passage, Bath and Water 
Closets. 
10 Ward for 30 Beds, 30' X l^'- 
11 Passage, Bath and Water 
Closets. 
12 Verandah. 
EASTERN WING. 
WESTERN WING. 
HOSPITAL OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA. 
(GROUND-PLAN.) 
SAMUEL SLOAN, Areh't. 
PHILADELPHIA. APPENDIX APPENDIX. 
I. 
I. The Pennsylvania Hospital was founded in the year 
1751. At that time the population of Philadelphia was 
less than thirty thousand. During the first year, sixty-four 
patients were admitted into the Hospital, and from that 
period to 1830 (seventy-nine years) the whole number of 
poor patients was but fourteen thousand. Since 1830, 
the number has risen to more than fourteen thousand, 
being an average of seven hundred and twenty per annum. 
During the last fifty years there has been an increase in 
the population of Philadelphia of more than three hundred 
and thirty thousand. The increased accommodation for 
the sick during the same period has been, in proportion, 
very slight. 
II. It should be considered, further, that the greater den- 
sity of the population, and the consequent vitiation of the air, 
the introduction of steam, the establishment of manufac- 
tories, and the extension of railroads, have increased the 
number of the sick in a ratio more rapid than the increase of 
population. Within the last twenty-five years there has been, 
41 42 
APPENDIX. 
for example, an extraordinary increase in cases of ampu- 
tation. So of fractures. In 1821, in a population of one 
hundred and fifty thousand, one hundred and forty cases of 
accidental injury, of which forty-five were fractures, were 
received into the Hospital; while in 1841, in a population 
of less than four hundred thousand, there were more than 
four hundred cases, of which one hundred and sixty-three 
were fractures, making the relative increase in fractures; a 
third greater than the mere increase in population would 
require. 
III. In London, with a population of two millions, there 
are no less than twelve general hospitals, and between 
sixty and seventy devoted specially to the relief of the 
sick. These hospitals furnish three thousand one hundred 
and ninety-two free beds for the destitute. 
In our own city, with a population of four hundred 
thousand, there are, besides four dispensaries which fur- 
nish advice and medicine to the poor at their homes (aided 
lately by provision made by the professors of our medical 
colleges to procure attendance of the sick at their halls 
for advice), two general hospitals, which together have 
but little more than one hundred beds for the accom- 
modation of the necessitous sick. We have also one 
small hospital (Wills') for the blind and lame. The whole 
number of poor patients of the London hospitals in the 
year 1850 was thirty thousand; the whole number in the 
Pennsylvania Hospital in the same year did not, at the 
most liberal estimate, exceed one thousand. In other APPENDIX. 
43 
words, London, with a population but five times greater 
than Philadelphia, has hospital accommodations for the 
destitute sick nearly thirty times greater. So in Paris, 
the disproportion is still more striking. In 1843, since 
which time there has been but little variation, the number 
of patients admitted into the hospitals in that city was 
eighty thousand, in a population not then exceeding one 
million. 44 
APPENDIX. 
II. 
The Bishop Potter Memorial House grew out of the 
need of judicious, cultivated women, skilled in the art of 
winning souls by combining deeds and words of Chris- 
tian love. It is an institution for training them for such 
work. The following description is taken from a pam- 
phlet entitled " The Bishop Potter Memorial House: a 
history of its origin, design, and operations, illustrating 
woman's spiritual mission in the Christian Church." 
"No stringent laws are made, no peculiar dress adopted, 
and no pressing home duties are interfered with, and thus 
the institution is brought within the reach of many who 
might otherwise be excluded or prejudiced against it. 
" The mode of operation is in perfect harmony with the 
avowed principles of our Church. The institution is 
under the sole control of the Bishop of the diocese, who 
also has the entire charge of all the religious instruction 
at the Episcopal Hospital, adjoining the Memorial House, 
and with which it is so intimately connected. The Bishop 
appoints one or more supervisors, clerical or lay, with 
whom he confers, and to whom he confides the general APPENDIX. 
45 
management of the institution during the term of their 
appointment. 
" The internal management of the House is under the 
charge of a Lady Principal, appointed by the Bishop ; she 
alone can admit members into the family, and, with the 
aid of a council of advice, determine what sphere of duty 
is best suited to each inmate. 
" The first term is for six months, and the next for not 
less than one year nor longer than three. The services 
are gratuitous. The inmates also contribute toward the 
expenses when able; or, if without means, a small allow- 
ance will be made for clothing, when they enter upon the 
second term. 
"There are three Departments: Nursing, Mission-work, 
and Parish Schools; but the primary object in each depart- 
ment is religious instruction. Two ladies of large and 
successful experience, with the highest aptitude for teach- 
ing and training, as well as for working in their special 
departments, have entire control over the members of the 
household during working hours. The workers inter- 
change duties occasionally, or are transferred from one de- 
partment to another as their services are needed, or to 
increase their future usefulness. 
" The Nursing Department does not include any menial 
services that can be as well done by uneducated persons; 
but just such offices as a sister performs for a brother in 
whose body and soul she has a loving interest. These 46 
APPENDIX. . 
experienced ministering women instinctively adapt their 
instruction, readings, and prayers to the ever-varying con- 
dition of sufferers, and their kindly offices prepare the 
mind and heart to receive the good seed there sown so 
freely. The ladies attend to the preparation of the special 
diet which is used in the wards, and see that it is properly 
served ; they give directions as to personal cleanliness 
and other proprieties of life; and they comfort the patients 
by numberless acts of kindness, sometimes giving them 
secular instruction, and teaching the daily Bible-classes. 
" Nursing has thus far been confined almost exclusively 
to the wards of the Hospital; but the services of these 
ministering women will in due time be extended to the 
surrounding district, and when their numbers increase, 
and they become more perfectly organized, their sphere of 
loving labors can be enlarged. The efficient lady who has 
charge of the Nursing Department gives the learners the 
advantage of her large experience and high skill, and they 
confer with her in all difficult cases. 
" In the Missionary Department the ladies attend at the 
Dispensary in. order to form the acquaintance of applicants 
for bodily relief, and engage actively in every service that 
has been found successful in the most aggressive parishes, 
including systematic visiting and teaching from house to 
house. Members of the Memorial House employed in 
this department are counselled and aided by adady thor- 
oughly trained and successful in home missionary work, APPENDIX. 
47 
who allows them to be present when she teaches large 
Bible-classes and conducts Mothers' Meetings. She also 
accompanies them in their visits until they learn how to 
open homes and hearts, and to draw adults and children 
to God's House with the cords of love. 
" The Parish School Department has not been organ- 
ized, because the number of ladies is as yet insufficient for 
work that is more direct in its bearing on the soul."