Call Number:

MSS 6/009

Repository:

Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Extent:

55 linear feet (98 volumes; 31 boxes)

Language:

English

Date:

1867-1942 (inclusive)

Creator:

Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital and Infirmary for Nervous Diseases

Form:

Correspondence, Financial records, Minutes, and Patient records

Abstract:

The Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital was organized on 1 October 1867 and incorporated on 2 December of that same year. In 1870, an Infirmary for Nervous Diseases was added. The hospital was established to treat patients with bodily deformities or diseases of the nervous system. It accepted charity and paying patients and also treated, at daily clinics, patients not requiring admission. The hospital opened at 15 South 9th Street, then moved to the northwest corner of 17th and Summer streets.

The hospital was under the care of a Board of Managers, which had the authority to build or purchase facilities, provide apparatus for the treatment of patients, and accept all donations and gifts. Control of internal hospital affairs was under the Board's Executive Committee.

On 1 July 1938, the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital and Infirmary for Nervous Diseases merged with the University of Pennsylvania and became part of the University Hospital. After the merger, the 17th and Summer streets facility was assumed by the Doctors' Hospital.

The collection contains minutes, correspondence, records of financial transactions and personnel, and the admission, discharge, and treatment of patients, documenting the organization and administration and patient care at the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital and Infirmary for Nervous Diseases, 1867-1942. Some volumes are in poor condition and need to be handled with extra care.

Series 1 contains minutes, 1867-1920, of the hospital's Board of Managers. The board's business, as recorded in its minutes, concerns the election of officers and appointment of medical personnel, adoption of by laws and subsequent amendements, building plans, and hospital administration. Reports of the Executive Committee, treasurer, Women Visitors, and monthly statistics of patient admission and discharge are included. Minutes of the annual meetings of the Contributors, 1879-1920, are interfiled with minutes of the Board of Managers.

Minutes of the Executive Committee, 1884-1916, are in Series 2; the business of the committee concerns the authorizationjof payments, repairs and maintenance, housekeeping, and discipline of hospital staff.

Series 3 contains minutes and other records of miscellaneous adminstrative bodies, notably the Medical Board of hospital physicians and surgeons. The records of the Medical Board, 1867-1890, include minutes, a report of cases treated at the hospital in 1868, secretarial correspondence, and printed annual reports. The business of the Medical Board concerns examination of internal conditions in the hospital and reports to the Board of Managers. The volume contains minutes of the meeting of the hospital's founders in 1867. The series also contains minutes of the hospital's Building Committee, 1902-1903, Property Committee, 1905-[1910?], and Social Service Committee, 1911-1920.

Financial records, 1869-1939, of the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital are preserved in Series 4. The series includes four letterbooks, 1901-1925, of John W. Brock, Treasurer, which include annual financial reports; cashbooks, 1897-1922; voucher records, 1922-1938; cash receipts for special funds, 1922-1938; volumes listing distribution of receipts, 1926-1939; and some miscellaneous financial records, including a record of cash received, 1869-1910, from contributors to the hospital.

Records of the hospital personnel are contained in Series 5. The series includes a register of employees, 1892-1940, listing the name, occupation, salary, and dates of hire and termination, and two subseries of payroll records, one organized chronologically, 1921-1940, the other by voucher number, 1922-1938. The payroll records list employee name, position, and amount paid; professional and administrative staff paid monthly; and support staff paid weekly.

Series 6 contains various records of patients admitted to the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital or treated in its clinical departments, 1870-1942. The series contains a register of all hospital and clinical patients, organized by house number and which lists name, age, case history, and treatment, dating from 1870-1875; and a register of in-patients, organized by house number and which lists name, address, age, diagnosis, ward, dates of admission and discharge, name of physician, and notes on condition, dating from 1872-1885. The register of patients treated in the Department for Nervous Diseases, 1890-1900, is organized by number and lists name, date, residence, age, diagnosis, name of physician, and a reference to the clinical record volume (catalogued separately under call number ZDb 9). The register for patients treated in the Department of Deformities, 1876-1912, is organized by number until 1904 and then chronologically. This register lists name, date, residence, age, diagnosis, name of physician, and a reference to the surgical casebook (Please see Subseries 6.7 of this collection for the surviving surgical casebooks). The hospital admission and discharge records list dates of admission and discharge, name, house number, diagnosis, ward, initials of resident physician, age and nativity, occupation, and result, and date from 1885-1933; patient books, dating from 1887-1919, recording length of stay and payment; ten surgical casebooks, 1872-1898, primarily from the clinics of Drs. T. G. Morton and H. E. Goodman, which include occasional referral letters and drawings; statistical records of patients treated in the Nervous Clinic, 1904-1942, and Surgical Clinic, 1904-1930; and records of surgical operations, 1890-1912.

A few miscellaneous records, including a list of graduates from the hospital School of Massage, 1892-1934, are contained in Series 7.

Researchers should note that although there are 98 volumes in this collection, some volumes are held in boxes, while others are not. When requesting material, please use the box number if one is present.