West Philadelphia Hospital for Women and Children

Founded by Dr. Elizabeth Comly-Howell in 1889, the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women was established in order to provide a place in West Philadelphia where women could be treated by women. Dr. Comly-Howell called “a few earnest women together, [and] she put the matter so clearly and forcibly before them, that steps were immediately taken to establish such an institution,” (Henry, page 834). When the hospital opened in July 1889, in a building at the northeast corner of 41st and Ogden Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, “the extent of the equipment [consisted of] an almost empty, old fashioned house set in a garden of fine old trees, and a dispensary containing a few drugs, a half-dozen instruments, a doctor and a maid,” (Peck, page 111).

The need for the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women was quickly realized and its needs grew. In April 1891, the Hospital purchased a house at 4035 Parrish Street as a result of a “generous donation by Anna T. Jeanes of $10,000 from the estate of her sister, Mary Jeanes,” (Henry, page 835). Another donation by Jeanes resulted in the purchase of a building on Odgen Street for a dispensary. In 1894, Anna P. Sharpless built and furnished an operating room and by 1903, a maternity ward was built. Almost immediately after the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women was established, a training school for nurses was begun. According to Elizabeth Peck, the first physician-in-charge who donated her services and time, "the very general testimony of physicians and patients to the character of the work done by [the graduate nurses] … convinced [the Hospital] of the value of the careful training that may be given in small hospitals,” (Peck, page 112). An Auxiliary Committee, also established soon after the opening of the Hospital, aided with fundraising, donations, and support.

In 1929, the hospital merged with the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia. At the time of the merger, it was arranged that all maternity cases would be sent to the West Philadelphia Hospital, and surgical cases would be kept at the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia continued in existence until 1964 when it was absorbed by the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Bibliography:

Henry, Frederick P., editor. Founders’ Week Memorial Volume . “The West Philadelphia Hospital for Women,” by Amy Comegys. Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, 1909.

Peck, Elizabeth, M.D., "The West Philadelphia Hospital for Women," Transactions of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Alumnae Association of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania . Philadelphia: Alumnae Association of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1900.

From the guide to the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women records, 1899-1932, (Drexel University: College of Medicine Legacy Center)