History of Friends Hospital

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200-year Anniversary
Friends facility grounds - Admissions

Friends Hospital kicks off its 200-year anniversary celebration.

FIRST at Friends
Friends facility interior - Front desk

The FIRST at Friends clinical model is implemented.

Recovery-Oriented Inpatient Unit
Friends facility grounds - Recovery Unity

Friends Hospital designs and opens Philadelphia’s first recovery-oriented inpatient unit.

National Historic Landmark
Friends facility grounds signage

Friends Hospital is designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Greystone Program
Friends facility grounds - Greystone Program

The Greystone Program, a residential treatment program for adults, opens on hospital grounds.

Friends Accredited by APA
American Psychology Association

Friends Hospital becomes accredited as a training site by the American Psychological Association.

Bonsall and Tuke
Friends facility grounds - Bonsall & Tuke building

Bonsall and Tuke Buildings are completed, allowing the hospital to provide care for 192 individuals.

Hygeia Building
Friends facility grounds - Hygeria Building

The Hygeia Building (named for the Greek goddess of health) is built specifically to offer hydrotherapy as a treatment alternative. Hygeia also housed a natural science museum, photography room and nurses’ quarters.

First Two-Year Training School
Friends facility grounds - Walking Path

One of the first two-year training schools for nurses who wished to specialize in mental health opened on the Friends Hospital campus. It was unique for including certifications in both general and psychiatric nursing. The first class of two men and four women graduated in 1896.

First Institutional Gym
Friends Hospital Grounds - Scattergood building

Friends Hospital opens the nation’s first institutional gymnasium.

First Female Physician
Female Doctor assessing patient needs

Anna Broomall, M.D., joins the staff as a consulting doctor, making Friends Hospital among the first to accept women psychiatric physicians.

First Greenhouse
Facility grounds - Greenhouse building

Friends Hospital builds its first greenhouse to enhance its commitment to the art and science of horticulture.

Pet Therapy
Friends Hospital - Animal Program

As a forerunner to pet therapy, small animals such as rabbits and lambs are introduced into patients’ exercise areas as testing had shown that such animals are familiar and comforting.

Founded by Quakers
Facility grounds - Our Pathway outdoors

Friends Hospital founded by the Quakers and originally called “The Asylum for Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason.

A Journey Through Time
Facility grounds - Scattergood Facility

Located on a beautiful 100-acre campus, Friends Hospital, the nation’s oldest private psychiatric hospital, continues to offer a quiet refuge where healing has taken place for nearly two centuries. Friends Hospital offers a continuum of care including level of care assessments; specially designed inpatient units for adolescents, adult and older

Help is a phone call away.

We’re available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide a confidential mental health assessment for you or your loved one. Call us at 800-889-0548, visit our facility, or message us to get started. In the case of a medical emergency or crisis, please dial 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.