HUP to celebrate 125th anniversary

After 125 years, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is, as banners scattered across campus proclaim, still making history. The nation's first university teaching hospital was dedicated on June 4, 1874, and opened to the public on July 15. Officials are planning to commemorate the anniversary with a host of special events that reflect HUP's long history and celebrate its current achievements. "It's important to sponsor special events to highlight [HUP's] unique history while looking forward to its continued success in the new millennium," said Paula Yudenfriend, special projects coordinator for the Health System's Public Affairs Department. This summer's anniversary festivities start June 2 with an employee ice cream party, including a disc jockey and prizes. A reception for faculty members, administrators and trustees is also scheduled for June 4 at the Ravdin Concourse in HUP. Meanwhile, patients in the hospital during the anniversary week in mid-July will receive a special letter and commemorative bookmark in honor of the occasion. The celebration will continue into next fall with a bulletin board decorating contest for employees, featuring HUP trivia and historical photographs. And the festivities will culminate in spring 2000 with a lecture series that will highlight medical accomplishments made by HUP physicians. The day-long series will feature moments of progress in areas including cancer research and treatment, gene therapy and ethics. Yudenfriend said the celebrations are planned so that the community goes "from one event to the next to keep the momentum going and the excitement going." And HUP's anniversary celebration is just the beginning, Yudenfriend said. The excitement will build up to the Medical School's 235th anniversary in 2000 and the 250th anniversary of the Penn Health System-owned Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, located at Eighth and Spruce streets in Center City -- in 2001. HUP was recently ranked the 11th best hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. It has over 34,000 admissions and 722,000 outpatient visits per year, houses 772 licensed patient beds and employs over 6,000 people throughout the facility. Tom Beeman, the Health System's senior vice president for hospital operations, said that as "the cradle of American medicine," HUP is "honored among the best." And in addition to celebrating the hospital's excellence, Beeman said HUP officials are also celebrating "our part in the stewardship by handing this important academic research and clinical enterprise to the next generation so they can carry on the tradition of discovery, education and caring."