Princeton Health is celebrating a major milestone — 100 years of providing exceptional health care to the people in its community. Over the past year, several programs and events have showcased the centennial, with community and staff encouraged to share their special memories from the past. And the celebration will continue throughout the anniversary month.
But first, a look back.
A Little Bit of History
In a sense, the flu epidemic of 1918 was responsible for the opening of the original Princeton Hospital.
With more than 300 Princeton residents struck by the disease — and the nearest hospital, in Trenton, already filled to capacity — local residents, health officials, and nurses set up an emergency hospital at a Stockton Street inn. Although they were able to provide care for the hundreds impacted by the epidemic, the outbreak clearly demonstrated that a more permanent solution was critical.
Thirteen months later, Princeton Hospital opened in a converted farmhouse at 253 Witherspoon Street.
For several years, the original farmhouse hospital remained largely the same: Private rooms and the men’s ward on the second floor and, on the first floor, the children’s ward, women’s ward, newborn nursery, and an operating room that was used for delivering babies and occasional emergency surgeries such as tonsillectomies and appendectomies.
It continued to expand to meet the needs of the growing central New Jersey community... but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. In 1925, the medical staff lobbied for the hospital to expand surgical services to include elective procedures. The trustees initially approved, but, a month later, reversed the decision after the board of managers expressed concerns that ether used as anesthesia posed an explosion risk. Disputing these objections, physicians were able to again get it authorized, but the board remained worried. They urged the trustees to initiate a campaign for a modern hospital.
Three years later, the new hospital was completed. It was an easy move, though. The new facility was built right next to the original hospital, on the same property.
Much like the original hospital, Princeton Medical Center continually expanded and modernized, ultimately outgrowing its Witherspoon Street location and moving to Plainsboro in 2012. Today, as part of UPHS, Penn Medicine Princeton Health has 3,300 employees, more than 1,300 medical staff members, 70 academic affiliations, and a residency program that trains hundreds of medical students and medical and surgical residents each year.
Team Work and Community Support
Throughout its history, Princeton Health thrived largely on the strength of community support — including generous philanthropy — and the skill and dedication of its physicians, staff and volunteers. So it is fitting that those groups will factor prominently in the centennial festivities planned for the final full weekend of November.
“I can’t even imagine the number of extraordinary people who helped us get here over the past 100 years,” said President and CEO Barry S. Rabner. “Add in the many donors, community members, and government leaders who helped us, and you begin to appreciate the human investment required to make a great organization.”
The centennial events are intended to thank those people, celebrate the organization’s history, and look forward to the next century. “We are fortunate to have many remarkably talented newcomers to the organization who are passionate about what they do and of being part of creating our future,” Rabner said. “And at the same time, we have exceptional, committed people who have been here 30, 40, and even 50 years and volunteers who have been with us since the 1960s. We have doctors who trained here and practiced their entire careers here. When people stay somewhere for so long, you know there must be something special about the place.”
Throughout 2019, Princeton Health Community Wellness highlighted the centennial at several programs and events it sponsored. Princeton Health also ran a yearlong centennial contest on Facebook inviting individuals to post photos of babies born at PMC over the years.
In addition, employees, physicians, and volunteers were given opportunities to film stories during daylong video shoots at PMC and Princeton House this summer. Several can be seen on Princeton Health’s YouTube channel at https://tinyurl.com/y2abqdjo.
Princeton Health also set up an official centennial web page at PrincetonHCS.org/100years and invited the public and staff members alike to share stories, such as the one below from a woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.
“Each and every time I visit Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center I am amazed by the wonderful and attentive care I receive. Everyone from the front desk to the lab tech to the nurse are all so kind and make you feel like you matter! I have been hugged, offered kind words and prayed with on many occasions. Your staff has always made me feel less alone… Congratulations of 100 years of excellent service!”
“It is particularly difficult to predict the future of health care when you consider the dramatic and rapid changes in health technology, pharmaceuticals, clinical practices, and reimbursement, as well as the power of big data to drive change,” Rabner said. “What we do know is that over the past 100 years we have proven our ability to listen, learn, and adapt to whatever may come.”
Princeton Health will celebrate its centennial with a number of activities, including open houses featuring fashion shows (starring patients of the Center for Bariatric Surgery and Metabolic Medicine) as well as healthy cooking demonstrations. Visit pmc100years.org to learn more!