UPMC Altoona

UPMC Altoona
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Location of UPMC Altoona in Pennsylvania
Geography
Location	Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates	40°31′19″N 78°23′56″W / 40.521951°N 78.398833°W / 40.521951; -78.398833Coordinates: 40°31′19″N 78°23′56″W / 40.521951°N 78.398833°W / 40.521951; -78.398833
Organization
Care system	Private
Funding	Non-profit hospital
Hospital type	Community
Services
Emergency department	Level II trauma center
Helipad	FAA LID: 74PN
Beds	380
History
Founded	1883
Links
Website	http://upmcaltoona.org
Lists	Hospitals in Pennsylvania

UPMC Altoona, located in downtown Altoona, Pennsylvania, is a 380-bed, non-profit, private community hospital system that contains more than 20 affiliated health care companies and functions as the regional referral center and tertiary hub of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Founded in 1883 as to serve the needs of the area and the Pennsylvania Railroad, the hospital was known for most of its history simply as Altoona Hospital. It became part of the Altoona Regional Health System which was created in 2004 by the merger of Altoona Hospital with Bon Secours-Holy Family Hospital, previously Mercy Hospital of Altoona. Today as part of UPMC, it is an Adult Level II trauma center for a 20 county region in central Pennsylvania and is served by 300 physicians and 4,000 care givers that help it to provide a variety of medical services and specialties.

Prior to becoming part of the UPMC system, UPMC Altoona was known as the Altoona Regional Health System, of which Altoona Regional Hospital was the flagship facility and campus. That health system was the product of a 2004 merger between the city's two historic hospitals, Altoona Hospital and Mercy Hospital, the later of which became known as Bon Secours Holy Family Hospital in 1996.

Altoona Hospital was founded as Altoona General Hospital in 1883 due to the needs for a medical facility for the growing population of Blair County and the Pennsylvania Rail Road (PRR), which had its primary repair shops located in the area. Altoona Hospital's earliest permanent home was a $16,645 ($444 thousand in 2016 dollars) wooden, two-story, 30-bed hospital that opened on January 1, 1886. The first medical staff, led by Dr. John Fay as chief, were appointed on November 11, 1885. The PRR donated the land for the hospital, located conveniently close to the rail lines between 6th and 7th streets along Howard Avenue. During this first year, the hospital saw 113 total patients and ambulance service was added in July 1886. From there the hospital grew rapidly in size, including the addition of two stories by 1893, and added greatly to its capabilities. In 1904, it opened a nursing school, a nurses residence in 1905, a dispensary in 1920, an intensive-care unit in 1957, and the area's first cardiac care unit in 1968. Altoona Hospital constructed its current 13-story main tower, designed by Hayes Large Architects of Altoona, in 1978 and in 1989 it performed the region's first open heart surgery. Between 1993-95, it constructed a major expansion with the addition of a 7-story outpatient center and a 5-story parking garage, also by Hayes Large Architects, with Robert E. Wedge, AIA, as Principle in Charge.