Penn State Hershey Medical Center

Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, located in Hershey, Pennsylvania 10 miles (17 km) east of Harrisburg, is the medical campus of Pennsylvania State University and is the only medical school and university hospital in Pennsylvania located outside the urban areas of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

History
In 1963, The M. S. Hershey Foundation offered $50 million to the Pennsylvania State University to establish a medical school in Hershey. With this grant and $21.3 million from the U.S. Public Health Service, the University built a medical school, teaching hospital, and research center. Ground was broken in 1966 and Penn State's College of Medicine opened its doors to the first class of students in 1967 and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center accepted the first patients in 1970.

The original buildings at the Medical Center included the Medical Science Building and medical center, Animal Research Farm, Laundry and Steam Plant, and University Manor Apartments. Since 1970, the campus has grown from 318 to 555 acres. Many additions have been made to the academic and patient-care facilities, which are components of the Penn State College of Medicine and the Penn State University Children’s Hospital.

In 2004, the Medical Center established an emergency medicine residency program, in cooperation with PinnacleHealth/Harrisburg Hospital, a primary urban clinical institution in the region. Since 2006, there is a new affiliation with the Mount Nittany Medical Center hospital in State College, Pennsylvania.

Penn State College of Medicine
Penn State College of Medicine students have gone on to become world renowned productive physicians and scientists. As of May 2001, the College of Medicine has graduated 2,808 physicians and 598 scientists with Ph.D. or M.S. degrees. The College of Medicine offers degree programs in anatomy, biochemistry and molecular biology, bioengineering, cell and molecular biology, genetics, integrative biosciences, microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and physiology, and two postdoctoral programs leading to an M.S. degree in Laboratory Animal Medicine, the only such program in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. in Health Evaluation Sciences. Each year, more than 360 resident physicians are trained in medical specialties at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. The medical center also maintains a School of Nursing.

College of Medicine statistics: (as of 2005 )
 * Enrollments exceeding 21,000 annually.
 * Over $100 million in awards from federal, state, and private agencies, businesses, and individuals annually.
 * Admitted 20,622 patients and provided care through 524,411 outpatient and 47,500 emergency-service visits.
 * 5,028 employees, 500 volunteers, and the College of Medicine enrolls more than 600 students annually.

Penn State Children's Hospital
Penn State Children’s Hospital is the only children's hospital in central Pennsylvania and maintains the region's only Level III (highest level), state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Penn State Children’s Hospital received the highest rating for its care to medical, surgical, and trauma patients by the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Evaluations. This ranks the PICU among the top in the United States. The hospital is a leader in several specialties including neonatal care, pediatric oncology, pediatric cardiology, pediatric surgery, and pediatric trauma. The Children's Hospital houses 120 beds and treats more than 125,000 patients annually.

A new Expansion of Children's Hospital was announced in February 2003, which calls for a new free-standing 160,000 square-foot Penn State Children's Hospital to be constructed adjacent to the new Penn State Cancer Institute. Along with the existing emergency department and main hospital entrances, the Children's Hospital and Cancer Center will form a clinical quadrangle on the east side of the medical center, complete with convenient pick-up and drop off points for patients. A proposed 48,000 square-foot Heart Center will be constructed between Children's Hospital and the medical center's existing south addition. The total cost of the new Children's Hospital (combined with the Cancer Center expansion) is well in excess of $200 million. To complement funding through federal and state grants, borrowing, and Medical Center reserves, the Cancer Institute is seeking to raise $65 million in philanthropy.

Master Plan for Expansion
The master plan for the College of Medicine, announced in 2003, calls for a total of more than 832,000 square feet of new construction over the next seven to 10 years and proposes free-standing Penn State Children's Hospital, Penn State Cancer Institute, and Heart Center buildings with physical connectors to the medical center's hospital complex. It also proposes significant new facilities for research, education, cardiac care and a research building with potential incubator space for the Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania. Along with these major construction projects, the plan lays the foundation for a major reorganization of clinical care facilities and expansion of the medical center's East Campus for outpatient services. Other features of the plan include:
 * Moving the Life Lion helicopter pad, currently located at ground level outside the emergency department, to a roof top location with high-speed elevator access to trauma care and operating rooms.
 * Adding a number of parking decks and surface parking areas, more than 3,000 spaces in all, to address patient and employee parking needs.
 * Constructing a new ambulatory surgery center and two buildings to accommodate growth in outpatient programs.
 * Expanding the University Fitness Center.
 * Providing a potential building site for non-profit organizations, such as the Ronald McDonald House, that provide support services to patients and their families.

Notable physicians

 * Gus Rosenberg, original designer of the Ventricular Assist Device.

Notable Alumni

 * Elizabeth H. Field, Rheumatologist, Immunologist, Educator