What was the first hospital in the United States?

Founded in 1751 by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania Hospital was the first hospital in the colonies. The hospital was intended to care for the sick and insane in Philadelphia.

Franklin organized a petition and brought 33 signatures to the Pennsylvania Assembly in January 1751, stating that a small provincial hospital was necessary to help the area's poor. Franklin agreed to show the Assembly that the public supported the idea of the hospital by raising £2,000 from private citizens to fund the effort. Franklin successfully raised the money, and the Assembly matched the amount he raised, making the hospital possible.