being generally met by the managers themselves and their 
friends, with occasional aid from the State. But in spite of 
the fact that the old building was constantly improved it 
gradually began toshow its age, was expensive to keep up, and 
a constant source of complaint by patients and their friends 
on account of its remoteness from the street cars and the fati- 
guing hill to be climbed, to say nothing of its being no longer 
adapted to modern scientific treatments. After mature delib- 
eration it was decided to build upon a new site. 
The old athletic field of the Pittsburgh High School, fac- 
ing Friendship park, containing about three and one-half 
acres, was purchased in the fall of 1906, and upon this ground 
was erected the present structure which conforms in every 
way to the needs of a modern hospital, both as regards sani- 
tary arrangements and scientific equipment. The matter of 
financing the construction of the new building was a problem 
which presented many difficulties, but the outcome of the 
project did not remain long in doubt, for the well-wishers of 
the institution responded readily. 
On January 1, 1912, the new plant was formally opened 
and a public inspection invited. This invitation brought 
forth a remarkable response, it being estimated that from 
15,000 to 20,000 persons viewed the hospital on the afternoon 
of that New Year's day. Two months were occupied in in- 
stalling the equipment, furniture and necessary supplies, and 
on March 11, 1912, the 219 patients in the old buildings, with 
the nurses and employees, were transferred without accident 
to the new hospital, which had cost somewhat over a million 
dollars to erect and equip. 
In its first year in the new building the hospital admitted 
5,570 patients, while during the fiscal year, which ended May 
31, 1927, there were 9,846 admissions. During the seventy- 
nine years of the hospitals existence 208,703 patients have 
been admitted for treatment. 
The nurses were housed in quarters in the power building 
and in six private houses in the neighborhood. This was most 
unsatisfactory, and the need for a nurses’ dormitory became 
more pressing each year. However, it was not until the early 
part of 1920 that the hospital felt financially able to under- 
take the project. In March of that year a plot of ground fac-