Allegheny General Hospital, also known locally by the acronym "AGH", is located in the Central Northside neighborhood of Pittsburgh. AGH was the first hospital in Pennsylvania to be designated as a Level 1 shock trauma center. It was also the first hospital in the northeastern United States to offer an aeromedical service.[4]
Now the academic flagship of Allegheny Health Network, Allegheny General Hospital began as a 50-bed infirmary, housed in two adjoining brick rowhouses in what was then Allegheny City, immediately north of Pittsburgh.[5] Starting in 1881, the mayor of Allegheny City began meeting with a committee of physicians and prominent residents of Allegheny City, to discuss the construction of, and fund-raising for, a new North Side hospital. Three years later, the committee bought two adjacent properties along Stockton Avenue.[5]
Allegheny General Hospital from West End Overlook
The hospital was chartered in 1882 and on February 15, 1886, the forerunner to today's Allegheny General Hospital opened its doors.[5] In 1887, the hospital established a children's wing, and in 1889, an ambulance was donated to the hospital; AGH would operate its own ambulance service for the next 64 years. At the turn of the century, the hospital's directors began collecting funds for a new AGH, to be built just a block away, also along Stockton Avenue.[5]
The seven-story, 400-bed facility cost $620,000, and opened in 1904. The new space included more modern laboratory facilities: separate rooms for urinalysis, blood work, bacteriology, and autopsies.[5]
In the 1920, hospital leaders began looking for another new home. New Yorkarchitecture firm York and Sawyer was hired to draw plans for what would be one of the nation's first "skyscraper" hospitals, and by 1929, construction was underway, just to the north of the Stockton Avenue location. The cornerstone was laid in 1930, but the Great Depression interrupted construction for several years. The 22–story hospital was completed in 1936.[6]
Over the years, the hospital grew; a new East Wing was added, and in 1981, a new inpatient tower, the $104 million Snyder Pavilion, was completed.[7]
Allegheny General is allegedly their highest–volume educational hospital to feature 576–bed quaternary care and educational hospital for 24K inpatient admissions, 23K surgeries, and nearly 56K emergency department visits each year.[8]
^ abcdeElkin, C.W.W. (1969). Allegheny General Hospital: A History. Cooper-Siegel Community Library; Western Pennsylvania Collection: Allegheny General Hospital. pp. all.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
