History of Friends Hospital

200-year Anniversary
200-year Anniversary

Friends Hospital kicks off its 200-year anniversary celebration.

FIRST at Friends
FIRST at Friends

The FIRST at Friends clinical model is implemented.

Recovery-Oriented Inpatient Unit
Recovery-Oriented Inpatient Unit

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

National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark

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

Greystone Program
Greystone Program

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

Friends Accredited by APA
Friends Accredited by APA

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

Bonsall and Tuke
Bonsall and Tuke

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

Hygeia Building
Hygeia 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
First Two-Year Training School

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 Female Physician
First Female Physician

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

First Institutional Gym
First Institutional Gym

Friends Hospital opens the nation’s first institutional gymnasium.

First Greenhouse
First Greenhouse

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

Pet Therapy
Pet Therapy

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
Founded by Quakers

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

A Journey Through Time
A Journey Through Time

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 only a 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 contact us to get started.