Bridgeport Hospital

In the 1870s, Dr. George Lewis, a physician practicing in the city, persuaded his aunt, Susan Hubbell, to bequeath $13,500 and an acre at the summit of Mill Hill for the construction of a hospital, the first in Fairfield County, and only the third in the state. Before Bridgeport Hospital, "the closest thing to a hospital in the city was a facility in the basement of the future police headquarters, where infection and mortality rates were high among the emergency patients and poor residents who received care there," according to the hospital's web site.{{Cite web

| url = http://www2.bridgeporthospital.com/aboutus/Aniversary/default.aspx

| title = Expertise and Compassion Since 1878

| work = Bridgeport Hospital

| publisher = Yale New Haven Health

| accessdate = September 19, 2010

| url-status = dead

| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110708094040/http://www2.bridgeporthospital.com/aboutus/Aniversary/default.aspx

| archivedate = July 8, 2011

}}

The hospital was founded in 1878 when Bridgeport Mayor P.T. Barnum and other community leaders received approval from the state legislature to incorporate the institution. When a board of directors was named soon afterward, Barnum was elected its first president.{{Cite news

| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/21/nyregion/five-rings-for-the-p-t-barnum-festival.html

| title = Five Rings for the P. T. Barnum Festival

| newspaper = New York Times

| last = Cavanaugh

| first = Jack

| date = June 21, 1998

| accessdate = September 19, 2010

| location = New York

| quote = BARBARA KRAM, executive director of the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, knows a lot about P. T. Barnum – mayor of Bridgeport, member of the Connecticut legislature, founder and first president of Bridgeport Hospital, president of the city's water company and, of course, one of the world's foremost showmen. }}

Construction on the present site began in 1883 to designs by local architects Lambert & Bunnell.American Architect and Building News 14 July 1883: 24. On November 12, 1884, the new hospital began treating patients.

Bridgeport Hospital has 501 beds on two campuses, plus 42 beds licensed to Yale New Haven Children's Hospital. It has more than 2,900 employees and more than 1,110 physicians representing more than 60 sub-specialties and 230 medical/surgical residents and fellows in programs affiliated with Yale School of Medicine.{{Cite web |title=About Bridgeport Hospital |work=Bridgeport Hospital |publisher=Yale New Haven Health |date=August 2021 |access-date=August 28, 2021 |url= https://www.bridgeporthospital.org/about}}

The hospital operates a second campus on the site of the former Milford Hospital in Milford, Connecticut, which was integrated with Bridgeport Hospital by Yale New Haven Health in June 2019.{{Cite news| title = State approves integration of Bridgeport and Milford hospitals | newspaper=Connecticut Post | date=June 7, 2019 | accessdate = June 25, 2019 | url = https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/State-approves-integration-of-Bridgeport-and-13959079.php }}

Bridgeport Hospital is an American College of Surgeons-certified Level II trauma center.{{cite web |url=https://www.facs.org/search/trauma-centers |title=Trauma Centers |website=American College of Surgeons}} and is equipped with a helipad.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bridgeporthospital.org/EmergencyCenter/index.asp |title=Emergency Services & the Children's Emergency Center - Bridgeport Hospital, CT |access-date=2010-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213075412/http://bridgeporthospital.org//EmergencyCenter/index.asp |archive-date=2010-12-13 |url-status=dead }}

In its 2020 fiscal year, the hospital had 21,686 inpatient discharges and 75,634 emergency department visits.{{Cite web| title = Bridgeport Hospital Annual Report 2020 |date=July 2021 | accessdate = August 28, 2021 | url = https://www.bridgeporthospital.org/-/media/files/bridgeport/pdf/publications/annual-report/17832_BHF_2020_AnnualReport_FINAL.pdf }} The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission.{{Cite magazine | title = Bridgeport Hospital Overview | series= US News Best Hospitals | magazine= U.S. News & World Report |date=July 2015 | accessdate = May 11, 2016 | url = http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/ct/bridgeport-hospital-6160002 }}

The hospital can support up to six patient at a time in its chamber for hyperbaric medicine, also known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy.[http://www.facs.org/] American College of Surgeons web site, accessed June 23, 2014{{cite web|url=https://www.bridgeporthospital.org/services/wound-care/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy.aspx|title=Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Bridgeport Hospital|website=www.bridgeporthospital.org}} and operates the only specialized burn care facility in Connecticut.{{cite report |title = Burn Care Facilities |url = http://www.ameriburn.org/BCRDPublic.pdf |author = American Burn Association |type = PDF |date = August 24, 2010 |accessdate = September 19, 2010 |publisher = American Burn Association |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101018221802/http://ameriburn.org/BCRDPublic.pdf# |archivedate = 2010-10-18 |url-status = dead

}}{{Update after|2011|06|10|reason=The retrieved report's verification of the hospital's status expires on June 10, 2011.}}

The hospital's Norma F. Pfriem Cancer Institute, which includes the Norma F. Pfriem Breast Care Center and other cancer centers of excellence, is approved by the American College of Surgeons as a Teaching Hospital Cancer Program,{{Cite web | url = http://datalinks.facs.org/cpm/CPMApprovedHospitals_Detail.cfm?ID=6160020&NETWORK=0&GROUPID= | title = Bridgeport Hospital | work = CoC Hospital Locator | author = Commission on Cancer | publisher = American College of Surgeons | location = Chicago | accessdate = September 19, 2010 }}

The Ahlbin Rehabilitation Centers provide comprehensive musculoskeletal, neurological, and cognitive rehabilitation services, including specialized services for young children. Service lines include Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, and Recreational Therapy.

{{Reflist|33em}}

• [http://www.bridgeporthospital.org Official Website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060902065309/http://www.dph.state.ct.us/ Connecticut Department of Public Health]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060923151651/http://www.dph.state.ct.us/OPPE/Quality/Hosp_Comparison_2004.pdf Hospital Performance Comparisons] a report released in February 2006 by the state Department of Health

{{Connecticut Trauma Centers}}{{Hospitals in Connecticut}}{{authority control}}

Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1884

Category:Teaching hospitals in Connecticut

Category:Buildings and structures in Bridgeport, Connecticut

Category:1878 establishments in Connecticut

Category:Trauma centers