Celebrating a History of Great Decisions in Our Community

1881

• On July 1 of this year Hamot Hospital is opened.
• The first patient was admitted to Hamot Hospital on July 10, 1881. This patient was suffering from cancer and passed away after eight days in the hospital. Rev. Franklin, president of the Board of Managers, noted that “in all its future, the Hospital can do no more blessed act than in its first case,” due to the relief they were able to provide.

1906

• Hamot's Pathology Department was first created in 1906. Dr. Charles G. Strickland, son of Dr. D.H. Strickland, was Hamot's first pathologist. He was also the first physician of the Obstetrical Division, formed during the same year.

1907

• Hamot's Nose and Throat Division created.
• Hamot's Dental Surgery Division created.

1910

• X-ray equipment installed for the first time at Hamot.
• Dr. Frank Gamon became Hamot's first specialized anesthetist.

1911

• The medical staff was augmented with the addition of Hamot's first two pediatricians, Dr. F.E. Ross and Dr. Girard Cranch.
• Dr. William M. Dill hired as Hamot's first radiographer.

1915

• Dr. Katherine H. Law Wright, Hamot's first female physician, became Hamot's first specialized laryngologist and rhinologist.

1919

• The Orthopedic Department was created in 1919, with Dr. G.C. Boughton in charge and Dr. A.G. Davis assisting as a new hire. This department was created in large part to aid the many children living in Erie at the time who were suffering from deformities or other ailments which, until then, had been considered incurable and permanent.

1925

• The first portable X-ray machine was purchased by the hospital.

1926

• Hamot became one of the first hospitals in the country to receive accreditation from the American College of Surgeons, established in 1918.

1943

• The hospital added the Blood and Plasma Bank and Central Sterile Supply departments, which by 1944 were considered permanent additions. The Central Sterile Supply Department had been featured in national hospital magazines.

1945

• Development of three new clinics: Tumor Diagnostic Clinic, Heart Clinic and Rheumatic Fever Clinic.

1957

• Hamot ophthalmologists successfully performed the area's first corneal transplant surgery on an Erie resident.

1959

• Beginning of catheterization and closed heart surgery procedures at Hamot.

1960

• Opening of Hamot's new Main and North Wings.
• The first cardiac catheterization laboratory in northwestern PA was established at Hamot.

1962

• The first open heart procedure was performed in Erie at Hamot by Dr. George D'Angelo in November 1962.

1964

• Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgery was added as a division of the Department of Surgery, headed by Dr. George D'Angelo in November 1964 and approved by the state for closed heart surgical procedures.

1965

• Hamot’s Cardiovascular Unit approved as an “open heart center” by the PA Department of Health.