Happy 100th Anniversary, Magee!
By Nancy Kennedy

Magee Womens Hospital of UPMC is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Magee opened in January 1911 when 14 mothers and their newborns were transferred there by horse-drawn carriages from Reinemann Maternity Hospital in Polish Hill. The original Magee Hospital was located in a stately mansion which had been the home of hospital founder Christopher Lyman Magee. His 10-acre estate was known as The Maples and is the same site where the Magee Hospital complex sits today. He named the hospital The Elizabeth Steel Magee Hospital in honor of his mother and directed in his will that all women who needed to be admitted for childbearing should be welcomed without any conditions or questions. The Maples mansion had been modified to serve as a temporary hospital during the construction of the permanent facility, and had room for 40 women and their infants. That facility, completed in 1915, remains the core of Magee Hospital today, although numerous expansions have taken place to house the multifaceted, world-class center for care, medical education and research that Magee has become.

Magee began as an obstetric hospital and eventually expanded to include gynecology, women's cancer care and medical-surgical care of both women and men. In 1962, Magee merged with Womens Hospital and became Magee-Womens Hospital. Through the 70's and beyond, Magee became a national leader in the care of women with complicated pregnancies and in the care of premature and critically ill newborns. A second merger, in 1994, with UPMC further expanded Magee's capabilities and the hospital now offers a full range of medical and surgical services.

Magee has evolved into one of the world's most progressive centers for womens and infants healthcare and research. It is one of the largest womens hospitals in the U.S., with nearly 10,000 annual births, and is partnered with the Magee Womens Research Institute, an internationally recognized center that was the first research facility devoted exclusively to women's health. Together, the hospital and Research Institute have been designated Centers of Excellence in Womens Health by the Department of Health and Human Services. Magee is home to a Neonatal ICU whose cutting-edge design has set a national standard and is the largest in Pennsylvania, treating over 1500 infants annually.

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