UPMC Shadyside had its beginnings in 1866 as Homeopathic Medical and Surgical Hospital and Dispensary in downtown Pittsburgh. In 1884 it moved to a new building, again downtown. The same year, the hospital established western Pennsylvania’s first school of nursing.
In 1896, the hospital pioneered the first x-ray in western Pennsylvania. It was also among the first to use Joseph Lister’s antiseptic techniques for surgery.
The hospital moved to Shadyside in 1910, on a site just in front of its present location. In 1938, its name was changed to Shadyside Hospital. The present building was erected in 1972, and it became part of UPMC in 1997.
The hospital has a long legacy of leadership in cardiology and cardiac surgery. In the 1960s it was an early adopter of the cardioverter to correct erratic heartbeats. In the next decades it moved to the forefront of interventional cardiology, developing new catheters and performing angioplasties.
Shadyside Hospital had Pittsburgh’s first coronary care unit. Geriatrics also has a strong legacy here; Shadyside Hospital boasted the nation’s first physician to be board certified in geriatrics.
