Guide to the St. Francis Health System Office of Public Affairs Records c1960-2002
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- St. Francis Health System Office of Public Affairs Records
- Collection Number
- MSS 865
- Extent
- 4 linear feet (4 boxes)
- Date
- c1960-2002
- Abstract
- The St. Francis Health System was established in 1865 in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The system was shut down in 2002 and bought out by UPMC Children's Hospital. The St. Francis Health System Office of Public Affairs Records includes photographs, newsletters, and journals which document the hospital's services throughout the 20th century.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
The St. Francis Health Center began as a small construction in November 1865 when friends of Mother Mary Margaret, the Superioress of the Franciscan Sisters in Buffalo, petitioned her to send her coworkers to Pittsburgh to establish a hospital. She sent Sister Mary Elizabeth, Sister Magdalen, and Sister Stephen to Pittsburgh where they obtained a house on 37th Street in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood with 15 beds for the sick. In May of the following year, they obtained a six acre plot on 44th Street where they set up a hospital with enough room for 30 patients, later adding a chapel to the building over Thanksgiving. The hospital saw its first influx of patients during the Pittsburgh smallpox epidemic that lasted from 1866 to 1872. During that time, the hospital was granted a charter by the state of Pennsylvania and by 1871 the hospital was expanded to three stories. After the city experienced another bout of smallpox in 1876, the hospital was further expanded to accommodate the mentally ill. Several remodels and expansions took place from 1890 until 1910 and in 1919 the Sisters of Saint Francis of Millvale, now separate from their Buffalo community, established the St. Francis Hospital Training School of Nurses. In 1984, the Sisters expanded their health system to Cranberry Township, Butler County, which included a hospital, heliport, and administrative offices.
By August 2002, the St. Francis Health System was experiencing financial difficulties and ownership was eventually transferred to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh as part of a contract between Highmark, Inc. and UPMC Health System.
Scope and Content Notes
The St. Francis Health System Office of Public Affairs Records are housed in four boxes and consist primarily of newsletters, pamphlets, brochures, nurse and patient guides, and announcements.
Box 1 contains several hospital-published newsletters, the most prominent of which is Probe (1965-1996), a general newsletter of the medical center, and Signs of Life (1964-1988). This box also contains informational brochures, guides, and packets aimed towards the general public and visitors of the hospital which describe medical procedures, the departments of the hospital, rehabilitation programs, and health services.
Box 2 contains mainly internal publications such as physician directories, patient and nurse guides, personnel policies, annual reports, as well as announcements of hospital staff dinners and new doctors. There is also a 1911 history of St. Francis Hospital which includes a general summary of the patients and their diagnoses at the time of publication. In addition, one set of publications and programs are from the hospital's Courage to Come Back Awards, which honors St. Francis patients.
Photographs in box 3 are from volunteer luncheons and recognition events in the 1970s which depict hospital volunteers and staff nurses. Other photographs are of the interior and exterior of the St. Francis Hospital building in Lawrenceville. Also in this box are volumes 2.1 through 5.3 of the St. Francis Journal of Medicine (1996-1999.)
Box 4 contains two unannotated film reels.
Conditions Governing Access
None
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift from Shirley Freyer in 2002.
Archives accession # 2002.0236
Preferred Citation
St. Francis Health System Office of Public Affairs Records, c1960-2002, MSS 865 , Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Sarah Ecklund on 11/5/2012.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Subjects
- St. Francis Health System (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Medical care -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.