Educator Miss Pat Gardner teaches to the Class of 1971.
When Lancaster General Hospital was founded, its mission was not only to serve as a place for patient care but to provide education for future nurses. Though nursing trainees were on LGH’s staff when the hospital opened in 1893, a formal nursing school was not officially established until 1903. Then called the Lancaster General Hospital School of Nursing, the school offered a three-year nurse training program for single women. Minnie White was the first graduate in 1906. Among the school’s many firsts, the first male nurse graduated from the program in 1974.
More than 100 years later, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health continues to fulfill the original mission through the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences. Throughout its more than 100-year history, the College has grown from one nursing program to more than 20 health science and nursing programs and from a private home for 40 students to an all-commuter campus. On average, the College enrolls more than 1,800 and graduates nearly 500 students each year.
Current students review material in the cross-discipline simulation classroom.
Since 2013, the College has added new programs, including professional and academic certificates, graduate-level courses, a three-year BSN and a Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Some programs are also available online.
In 2016, PA College relocated to the Greenfield Corporate Center, which offers more than 300,000 square feet of state-of-the-art learning space, including 20,000 square feet devoted to cross-discipline Excellence in Practice.
To learn more about the history of LG Health, visit https://www.historyoflgh.org.