Founding of Hamot Hospital
The Hamot Hospital Association was founded on February 7, 1881.
The hospital was named for Pierre Simon Vincent Hamot, a Frenchman who settled in Erie in 1805.
P.S.V. Hamot was a successful businessman and an active member of the Erie community. In the early 1800s, he built a homestead for his family at the foot of State Street, overlooking the bay and Presque Isle on the south shore of Lake Erie.
After his death in 1846, his children and grandchildren continued his legacy of community involvement. One of their greatest gifts to the Erie community was the donation of the Hamot Homestead for use as a general hospital to be called "Hamot."
The Hospital Association worked quickly to divide the building into five private rooms and three wards for men, women and sailors.
Once renovations were complete, the Hospital Association secured the services of a nurse named Irene Sutleff. In addition to her nursing duties, she was the hospital’s first superintendent, in charge of managing the hospital.
Hamot invited all local physicians to treat their patients at the new hospital, which opened its doors to the public on July 1, 1881.
Dr. David Hayes Strickland treated the hospital's first patient, who was admitted on July 10, 1881.
