Johns Hopkins Hospital
Encyclopedia
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital
and biomedical research
facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore
, Maryland
(USA
). It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist
Johns Hopkins
. The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine are the founding institutions of modern American medicine and are the birthplace of numerous traditions including "rounds", "residents" and "housestaff". Many medical specialties were formed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, including neurosurgery
(Cushing), urology
, endocrinology
, cardiac surgery
(Blalock
), pediatrics
(Park) and child psychiatry (Kanner
).
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest hospitals. It has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the best overall hospital in America for 21 consecutive years.
The hospital's main medical campus in East Baltimore is served by the easternmost station on the Baltimore Metro Subway.
, a Baltimore merchant and banker, left an estate of $7 million ($123.8 million in 2009 USD) when he died on Christmas Eve 1873 at the age of seventy-eight. In his will, he asked that his fortune be used to found two institutions that would bear his name: "Johns Hopkins University
" and "The Johns Hopkins Hospital." At the time that it was made, Hopkins' gift was the largest philanthropic
bequest in the history of the United States.
Toward the end of his life, Hopkins selected twelve prominent Baltimoreans to be the trustees for the project and a year before his death, sent a letter telling them that he was giving "thirteen acres of land, situated in the city of Baltimore, and bounded by Wolfe, Monument, Broadway and Jefferson streets upon which I desire you to erect a hospital." He wished for a hospital "which shall, in construction and arrangement, compare favorably with any other institution of like character in this country or in Europe" and directed his trustees to "secure for the service of the Hospital, physicians and surgeons of the highest character and greatest skill."
Most importantly, Hopkins told the trustees to "bear constantly in mind that it is my wish and purpose that the [hospital] shall ultimately form a part of the Medical School of that university for which I have made ample provision in my will." By calling for this integral relationship between patient care, as embodied in the hospital, and teaching and research, as embodied in the university, Hopkins laid the groundwork for a revolution in American medicine. Johns Hopkins' vision, of two institutions in which the practice of medicine would be wedded to medical research and medical education was nothing short of revolutionary.
Initial plans for the hospital were drafted by surgeon John Shaw Billings
, and the architecture designed by John Rudolph Niernsee
and completed by Edward Clarke Cabot
of the Boston firm of Cabot and Chandler in a Queen Anne style
. When completed in 1889 at a cost of $2,050,000 ($48.3 million in 2009 USD), the hospital included what was then state-of-the art concepts in heating and ventilation to check the spread of disease.
The trustees obtained the services of four outstanding physicians, known as the "Big Four," to serve as the founding staff of the hospital when it opened on May 7, 1889. They were pathologist William Henry Welch, surgeon William Stewart Halsted
, internist William Osler
, and gynecologist Howard Atwood Kelly
.
Osler, the first chief of the Department of Medicine, is credited with originating the idea of a residency, whereby recently graduated doctors receive advanced training in their specialty while treating patients under supervision; then as now, residents comprise most of the medical staff of the hospital. He also introduced the idea of bringing medical students into actual patient care early in their training; at the time medical school consisted almost entirely of lectures. He once said he hoped his tombstone would say only, "He brought medical students into the wards for bedside teaching."
Halsted, the first chief of the Department of Surgery, established many other medical and surgical achievements at Johns Hopkins including modern surgical principles of control of bleeding, accurate anatomical dissection, complete sterility, and the first radical mastectomy for breast cancer (before this time, such a diagnosis was a virtual death sentence). His other achievements included the introduction of the surgical glove and advances in thyroid, biliary tree, hernia, intestinal and arterial aneurysm surgeries. Halsted also established the first formal surgical residency training program in the United States.
Kelly is credited with establishing gynecology as a true specialty. He created new surgical approaches to women's diseases and invented numerous medical devices, including a urinary cystoscope. He was one of the first to use radium to treat cancer.
Welch was responsible for training many of the outstanding physicians of the day, such as Walter Reed
. He also founded at Hopkins the nation's first School of Public Health.
In 1912, Diamond Jim Brady gave a donation to the hospital, which created the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute.
William Holland Wilmer, an ophthalmologist by training, opened the Wilmer Eye Institute in 1925, and completed four years later. Dr. Wilmer received an M.D. degree from the University of Virginia in 1885 and went on to work in New York, Washington D.C., and finally in Baltimore, where he established the institute.
pathways and functions. Other accomplishments include the development of HeLa
, the first and arguably most important line of human cells grown in culture; identification of the three types of polio virus; and the first "blue baby" operation, which opened the way to modern heart surgery.
.
The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins ranked as the top Radiology
department within a hospital in the United States by Medical Imaging Magazine (most recent ranking in 2007).
Teaching hospital
A teaching hospital is a hospital that provides clinical education and training to future and current doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, in addition to delivering medical care to patients...
and biomedical research
Biomedical research
Biomedical research , in general simply known as medical research, is the basic research, applied research, or translational research conducted to aid and support the body of knowledge in the field of medicine...
facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
(USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
). It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins was a wealthy American entrepreneur, philanthropist and abolitionist of 19th-century Baltimore, Maryland, now most noted for his philanthropic creation of the institutions that bear his name, namely the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the Johns Hopkins University and its associated...
. The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine are the founding institutions of modern American medicine and are the birthplace of numerous traditions including "rounds", "residents" and "housestaff". Many medical specialties were formed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, including neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
(Cushing), urology
Urology
Urology is the medical and surgical specialty that focuses on the urinary tracts of males and females, and on the reproductive system of males. Medical professionals specializing in the field of urology are called urologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with urological...
, endocrinology
Endocrinology
Endocrinology is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions called hormones, the integration of developmental events such as proliferation, growth, and differentiation and the coordination of...
, cardiac surgery
Cardiac surgery
Cardiovascular surgery is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. Frequently, it is done to treat complications of ischemic heart disease , correct congenital heart disease, or treat valvular heart disease from various causes including endocarditis, rheumatic heart...
(Blalock
Alfred Blalock
Alfred Blalock was a 20th-century American surgeon most noted for his research on the medical condition of shock and the development of the Blalock-Taussig Shunt, surgical relief of the cyanosis from Tetralogy of Fallot—known commonly as the blue baby syndrome—with Vivien Thomas and pediatric...
), pediatrics
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
(Park) and child psychiatry (Kanner
Leo Kanner
Leo Kanner was a Jewish American psychiatrist and physician known for his work related to autism. Kanner's work formed the foundation of child and adolescent psychiatry in the U.S. and worldwide....
).
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest hospitals. It has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the best overall hospital in America for 21 consecutive years.
The hospital's main medical campus in East Baltimore is served by the easternmost station on the Baltimore Metro Subway.
Foundation
Johns HopkinsJohns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins was a wealthy American entrepreneur, philanthropist and abolitionist of 19th-century Baltimore, Maryland, now most noted for his philanthropic creation of the institutions that bear his name, namely the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the Johns Hopkins University and its associated...
, a Baltimore merchant and banker, left an estate of $7 million ($123.8 million in 2009 USD) when he died on Christmas Eve 1873 at the age of seventy-eight. In his will, he asked that his fortune be used to found two institutions that would bear his name: "Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
" and "The Johns Hopkins Hospital." At the time that it was made, Hopkins' gift was the largest philanthropic
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
bequest in the history of the United States.
Toward the end of his life, Hopkins selected twelve prominent Baltimoreans to be the trustees for the project and a year before his death, sent a letter telling them that he was giving "thirteen acres of land, situated in the city of Baltimore, and bounded by Wolfe, Monument, Broadway and Jefferson streets upon which I desire you to erect a hospital." He wished for a hospital "which shall, in construction and arrangement, compare favorably with any other institution of like character in this country or in Europe" and directed his trustees to "secure for the service of the Hospital, physicians and surgeons of the highest character and greatest skill."
Most importantly, Hopkins told the trustees to "bear constantly in mind that it is my wish and purpose that the [hospital] shall ultimately form a part of the Medical School of that university for which I have made ample provision in my will." By calling for this integral relationship between patient care, as embodied in the hospital, and teaching and research, as embodied in the university, Hopkins laid the groundwork for a revolution in American medicine. Johns Hopkins' vision, of two institutions in which the practice of medicine would be wedded to medical research and medical education was nothing short of revolutionary.
Initial plans for the hospital were drafted by surgeon John Shaw Billings
John Shaw Billings
John Shaw Billings was an American librarian and surgeon best known as the modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office of the Army and as the first director of the New York Public Library.-Biography:...
, and the architecture designed by John Rudolph Niernsee
John Rudolph Niernsee
John Rudolph Niernsee was an American architect, the head architect for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He was born as Johann Rudolph Niernsee in Vienna, Austria and immigrated to the United States in 1837, at age 22...
and completed by Edward Clarke Cabot
Edward Clarke Cabot
Edward Clarke Cabot was an American architect and artist.-Early life:Cabot's father was Samuel Cabot Jr., a shipping businessman. His mother was Eliza Perkins Cabot. He had two siblings: Dr. Samuel Cabot III , an eminent surgeon, and Walter Channing Cabot Edward Clarke Cabot (August 17, 1818...
of the Boston firm of Cabot and Chandler in a Queen Anne style
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
. When completed in 1889 at a cost of $2,050,000 ($48.3 million in 2009 USD), the hospital included what was then state-of-the art concepts in heating and ventilation to check the spread of disease.
The trustees obtained the services of four outstanding physicians, known as the "Big Four," to serve as the founding staff of the hospital when it opened on May 7, 1889. They were pathologist William Henry Welch, surgeon William Stewart Halsted
William Stewart Halsted
William Stewart Halsted was an American surgeon who emphasized strict aseptic technique during surgical procedures, was an early champion of newly discovered anesthetics, and introduced several new operations, including the radical mastectomy for breast cancer...
, internist William Osler
William Osler
Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet was a physician. He was one of the "Big Four" founding professors at Johns Hopkins Hospital as the first Professor of Medicine and founder of the Medical Service there. Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet (July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a physician. He was...
, and gynecologist Howard Atwood Kelly
Howard Atwood Kelly
Howard Atwood Kelly was an American gynecologist. He was one of the "Big Four" founding professors at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Howard Atwood Kelly (February 20, 1858 – January 12, 1943) was an American gynecologist. He was one of the "Big Four" founding professors at Johns Hopkins Hospital....
.
Osler, the first chief of the Department of Medicine, is credited with originating the idea of a residency, whereby recently graduated doctors receive advanced training in their specialty while treating patients under supervision; then as now, residents comprise most of the medical staff of the hospital. He also introduced the idea of bringing medical students into actual patient care early in their training; at the time medical school consisted almost entirely of lectures. He once said he hoped his tombstone would say only, "He brought medical students into the wards for bedside teaching."
Halsted, the first chief of the Department of Surgery, established many other medical and surgical achievements at Johns Hopkins including modern surgical principles of control of bleeding, accurate anatomical dissection, complete sterility, and the first radical mastectomy for breast cancer (before this time, such a diagnosis was a virtual death sentence). His other achievements included the introduction of the surgical glove and advances in thyroid, biliary tree, hernia, intestinal and arterial aneurysm surgeries. Halsted also established the first formal surgical residency training program in the United States.
Kelly is credited with establishing gynecology as a true specialty. He created new surgical approaches to women's diseases and invented numerous medical devices, including a urinary cystoscope. He was one of the first to use radium to treat cancer.
Welch was responsible for training many of the outstanding physicians of the day, such as Walter Reed
Walter Reed
Major Walter Reed, M.D., was a U.S. Army physician who in 1900 led the team that postulated and confirmed the theory that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito species, rather than by direct contact...
. He also founded at Hopkins the nation's first School of Public Health.
In 1912, Diamond Jim Brady gave a donation to the hospital, which created the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute.
William Holland Wilmer, an ophthalmologist by training, opened the Wilmer Eye Institute in 1925, and completed four years later. Dr. Wilmer received an M.D. degree from the University of Virginia in 1885 and went on to work in New York, Washington D.C., and finally in Baltimore, where he established the institute.
Achievements
Medical achievements at Johns Hopkins include the first male-to-female sex reassignment surgery in the United States that took place in 1966 at the Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic. Two of the most far-reaching advances in medicine during the last 25 years were also made at Hopkins. First, the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of restriction enzymes gave birth to the genetic engineering industry. Second, the discovery of the brain's natural opiates has triggered an explosion of interest in neurotransmitterNeurotransmitter
Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse. Neurotransmitters are packaged into synaptic vesicles clustered beneath the membrane on the presynaptic side of a synapse, and are released into the synaptic cleft, where they bind to...
pathways and functions. Other accomplishments include the development of HeLa
HeLa
A HeLa cell is a cell type in an immortal cell line used in scientific research. It is the oldest and most commonly used human cell line. The line was derived from cervical cancer cells taken on February 8, 1951 from Henrietta Lacks, a patient who eventually died of her cancer on October 4, 1951...
, the first and arguably most important line of human cells grown in culture; identification of the three types of polio virus; and the first "blue baby" operation, which opened the way to modern heart surgery.
Rankings
In 2010, the Johns Hopkins Hospital was ranked as the top overall hospital in the United States for the 20th consecutive year by U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
.
| US ranking | MD ranking | Specialty |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ear Ear The ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system.... , nose Human nose The visible part of the human nose is the protruding part of the face that bears the nostrils. The shape of the nose is determined by the ethmoid bone and the nasal septum, which consists mostly of cartilage and which separates the nostrils... & throat Throat In vertebrate anatomy, the throat is the anterior part of the neck, in front of the vertebral column. It consists of the pharynx and larynx... |
| 1 | 1 | Gynecology |
| 1 | 1 | Neurology Neurology Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,... and neurosurgery Neurosurgery Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In... |
| 1 | 1 | Urology Urology Urology is the medical and surgical specialty that focuses on the urinary tracts of males and females, and on the reproductive system of males. Medical professionals specializing in the field of urology are called urologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with urological... |
| 1 | 1 | Rheumatology Rheumatology Rheumatology is a sub-specialty in internal medicine and pediatrics, devoted to diagnosis and therapy of rheumatic diseases. Clinicians who specialize in rheumatology are called rheumatologists... |
| 2 | 1 | Kidney disorders |
| 2 | 1 | Ophthalmology Ophthalmology Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems... |
| 2 | 1 | Psychiatry Psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities... |
| 2 | 1 | Diabetes and endocrinology Endocrinology Endocrinology is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions called hormones, the integration of developmental events such as proliferation, growth, and differentiation and the coordination of... |
| 3 | 1 | Gastroenterology Gastroenterology Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine whereby the digestive system and its disorders are studied. The name is a combination of three Ancient Greek words gaster , enteron , and logos... |
| 3 | 1 | Geriatrics Geriatrics Geriatrics is a sub-specialty of internal medicine and family medicine that focuses on health care of elderly people. It aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults. There is no set age at which patients may be under the care of a geriatrician, or... |
| 3 | 1 | Heart Heart The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions... & heart surgery |
| 3 | 1 | Cancer Cancer Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the... |
| 4 | 1 | Pulmonology Pulmonology In medicine, pulmonology is the specialty that deals with diseases of the respiratory tract and respiratory disease. It is called chest medicine and respiratory medicine in some countries and areas... |
| 5 | 1 | Orthopedics Orthopedics Orthopedics is the study of the musculoskeletal system. The Greek word 'ortho' means straight or correct and 'pedics' comes from the Greek 'pais' meaning children. For many centuries, orthopedists have been involved in the treatment of crippled children... |
| 14 | 1 | Rehabilitation Rehabilitation (neuropsychology) Rehabilitation of sensory and cognitive function typically involves methods for retraining neural pathways or training new neural pathways to regain or improve neurocognitive functioning that has been diminished by disease or traumatic injury.... |
The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins ranked as the top Radiology
Radiology
Radiology is a medical specialty that employs the use of imaging to both diagnose and treat disease visualized within the human body. Radiologists use an array of imaging technologies to diagnose or treat diseases...
department within a hospital in the United States by Medical Imaging Magazine (most recent ranking in 2007).
See also
- Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityThe Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Hopkins television seriesHopkins (TV series)Hopkins is a seven-part documentary TV series set at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, a teaching hospital in Baltimore, Maryland . It premiered in the United States on June 26, 2008 on ABC and is currently airing in syndication on the We TV Network. The theme for the show "So Much to Say" was written by...
- Medical centers in the United StatesMedical centers in the United StatesMedical centers in the United States are conglomerations of health-care facilities including hospitals and research facilities that also either include or are closely affiliated with a medical school...