The 'So, Where Were You Born?" Story

Home of the first Lancaster General Hospital.

It was an ordinary day.  Driving north on North Lime Street when I noticed a huge crane hovering over the Lancaster General Hospital complex in the 500 block of North Lime.  The hospital now fills the entire 500 block which is bordered by Lime, James, Duke and Frederick Streets in the north of  the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  The hospital is the largest hospital in Lancaster County with a satellite campus on the Harrisburg Pike to the west of Lancaster.  Many, many children are born in the hospital every year.  Carol and I welcomed our second and third children into the world at Lancaster General.  I have had quite a few surgeries in the operating rooms of the hospital in the past 50 years and Carol and I felt we owned a room in the hospital, since we made many visits to it's emergency room as our children when through childhood.  

The second home of Lancaster General Hospital on Lime St.

The hospital was founded in 1893 in a three-story brick residence at 322 North Queen Street before being moved to it's current location in a private mansion at 530-532 North Lime Street.  Today's General Hospital has achieved membership in the "100 Top Hospitals" in the United States.  

Expansion of the hospital on Lime St. can be seen in this
photo.  My friend Jerry lived across the street from this site.

My friend Jerry's parents lived across the street from the hospital on Lime Street and in 1944 his mom walked across the street, while in labor, to give birth to him.  As for my wife and I, as well as our first child, we were born in one of the other three hospitals that were located in the city of Lancaster.  St. Joseph Hospital was established in 1883 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia.  

St. Joseph Hospital in Lancaster, PA.

The building itself was erected along what is now College Avenue in 1877 by the Brothers of St. John of God with the Sisters arriving shortly after with a budget of $2.50 and two apples.  The building had no electricity, running water or beds, but Sister Cecilia placed her two apples on a windowsill near a statue of St. Joseph and asked him to multiply the food for the people who would come for care.  

The hospital in which both my wife, son and I were born.

The same day two barrels of apples appeared and by 1884 the first operating room was established.  In the early 1900's a new wing was opened for surgery and the Training School for Nurses was established.  It was in that building that both Carol and I were born.  In the 1950's new buildings began to take the place of the original structure and prayer was delivered over the loudspeakers.  

The first Osteopathic Hospital in Lancaster on
Cottage Ave. on the east side of Lancaster is pictured here.

It was in the new buildings that our first son was born.  In 2000 the name of the hospital was changed to Lancaster Regional Medical Center.  The final hospital in Lancaster City dates back to 1921 when Lancaster Osteopathic Hospital was built. Osteopathic physicians and their patients wanted the option for an expanded kind of medical care not available at the time in Lancaster.  

The enlarged Osteopathic Hospital.

It was in 1921 that a free clinic opened in downtown Lancaster in the Woolworth building.  Three years after that a new property on the east side of the city was purchased for the new hospital.  Eventually that building on East Orange Street was expanded.  In 1986 the Osteopathic Hospital of Lancaster became Lancaster Community Hospital.  In past years the medical community has grown and grown with Lancaster General leading the way.  With an older population growing and growing, the need for more medical care is a necessity.  Carol and I often talk about moving to a tropical island, but we always nix the idea because of our need for top notch medical care which we can receive in Lancaster County.  So, the crane on North Lime Street is a welcome site knowing they are expanding my chances of getting the proper medical care in the town where I was born ..... many years ago.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Another view of the Lancaster General facing towards North Duke Street.

Lancaster General's Health Campus to the west of the city.

Expansion of St. Joseph, now Lancaster Regional Medical Center, in Lancaster.