Allegheny Valley Hospital celebrate its centennial

When Anita Muchlado began working at Allegheny Valley Hospital, she was 20 years old and the hospital was 26.

That was in 1935, when the hospital was still something of a fledgling operation because of the Great Depression. As the hospital's bookkeeper, her responsibilities were no small task.

"It was hard times," said Muchlado, who is now 94 and still resides in Harrison. "The hospital was in debt, our patients couldn't pay. We depended a lot on state aid because it was the Depression and times were hard."

But they pulled through.

And the hospital is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary of service to the region.

Linda Jaskolka, communications director for the hospital, said it will be marked with events throughout the coming year, starting Jan. 30 with the premiere showing of a DVD for the public recounting the hospital's history.

"Moving forward throughout the year, all of our events will carry the centennial theme," Jaskolka said.

That theme is: 100 Years of Redefining Community Medicine.

In May, the hospital's trust is planning a fundraising gala. The public will be involved in a summer event. There will be other internal celebrations, such as the employee picnic and the medical staff outing.

"All will carry the centennial theme," Jaskolka said.

Looking back

In 1935, Muchlado, a graduate of Duff's Business College in Pittsburgh, started working as the hospital's bookkeeper. Forty-three years later she would retire as the hospital's controller.

She recalled that her desk adjoined that of the hospital's superintendent, J. W. Stephenson. As she remembers, they were pretty much the day-to-day administrative operation.

"We both admitted patients and we both ran the switchboard," Muchlado said.

By then, the 98-bed hospital had added an adjacent nurses' school and residence, which was built in 1928. It now serves as the hospital's administration building.

"General nurses got their room and board, and they were getting paid $30 a month," she said. "And they were on 12-hour duty. They weren't working eight hours (shifts)."

Costs for hospital care were vastly different than today. Back then, the hospital had multiple bed wards, semi-private rooms with up to four patients and private rooms.

"Our wards were $3 a day, semi-private were $4 a day and private rooms were $5 a day," she said.

"Maternity had a flat rate of $35 for 10 days for the mother and $10 for the nursery for 10 days -- a total of $45," Muchlado said. "That included all the laboratory work, the delivery and the care of the mother. Compare that to today."

Muchlado said one of the most significant things for the hospital was getting an oncology department and updated imaging equipment, such as CT scans in 1980. She remembers it well because although she had retired, she was active as a volunteer whose drove the hospital's station wagon.

"Until then, I was driving (patients) to Shadyside and Kittanning," Muchlado said.

One thing she disagreed with was the fate of the nursing school.

"I didn't like it when we closed our school of nursing," she said. "I think it was in 1975. We had a good school and produced good nurses."

Feels like home

Reta Caputo, the hospital's director of case management, remembers the nursing school well. The Kittanning native enrolled in the school in 1965 and graduated as a registered nurse in 1968.

Since 1969, Caputo, now a Lower Burrell resident, has worked at the hospital.

"It's like home to me," Caputo said. "I did work for about a year in another area and I couldn't wait to get back.

"Still, to this day from the administration on down, the hospital is still like a family. The communication at our hospital is wonderful."

She credits that atmosphere to the various administrations and hospital boards that have guided the facility through the years.

"They have always let the employees grow and move into other opportunities," Caputo said, citing herself as an example. "We always put the jobs up for our nurses to have the opportunity to advance.

Caputo vividly -- and fondly -- remembers her days as a student at the nursing school.

"It was a very strict nursing school," she said. "We were not allowed to go to the cafeteria without a dress or a skirt on.

"The first year you were not even allowed out past 6 p.m. Absolutely no male visitors were allowed to go above the first floor."

There was no honor system in place. The rules were enforced by house mothers who lived at the residence.

"We did a lot of things behind their backs, but nothing vicious," Caputo said. "I think there was a lot more respect back then."

Those memories come back whenever she is in the administration building.

"It's sort of cool because I'll go up to where the human resources department is, that was an area where we could bring our dates," she said. The room where she lived is still there.

She concurred with Muchlado about how the improved oncology services helped the hospital to grow.

But she thinks the secret of its success is really its employees.

"We all want to work together to make the patient's experience in the hospital the best that it can be," Caputo said. "I stress that when you come here to work at the hospital you are here to give your very best to your patients.

"I think the hospital has always wanted to serve the community and serve the patients well in this area, and I truly feel that that is the key," she said. "We have to put the people in this area first."

Changing times

Former Chief Executive Officer John England remembers that just as he arrived at Allegheny Valley Hospital in 1977 to take over the reins, so did something else.

It was the final, two-volume report of a consulting firm hired to study the hospital and recommend needed changes.

He said Guy Bubb, the board president, delivered a challenge to him.

"He handed me the two volumes and said, 'It is your job to see that it happens,'" England said. "We were an old community hospital. Our newest facilities were 10 to 20 years old when I got there."

England, who retired in 1998, presided over what may have been the era of the greatest change in the hospital's history.

That included construction of a 450-space parking garage, a new wing fronting Carlisle Street and the addition of new services such as a psychiatric unit and new physicians.

The care and commitment by the hospital and its staff that Caputo referred to did not go unnoticed by the community.

"I think during my time, there was very, very fine community support as evidenced by fund drives," England said. "The first time (1980) we raised $1 million, and the next time we raised $5 million. Those are some ways to measure support."

Russell M. Evans III of Harrison, the board president, thinks that support continues as the community recognizes the hospital's commitment to serve the area.

"Our patient satisfaction keeps getting better and better," he said. He said that the hospital ranks very well on its mortality rate compared to other hospitals of its size nationally.

"I think that this hospital is absolutely essential to the health of the community in a number of ways," Evans said. "The primary way is that about 50,000 members of the community will show up at the emergency room this year. That is a sizeable amount of the people that live in the Allegheny-Kiski Valley."

Evans also sits on the board of directors of AVH's parent, the West Penn Allegheny Health System. From that perspective, he sees more improvements coming to Allegheny Valley.

"We are looking to put services where they are needed over the next four or five years, so I think at the Valley we will have the benefit of more services, rather than fewer," he said.

He mentioned cardiac care as one area that could be upgraded.

Reflecting on the 100th anniversary, Evans said there is certainly a feeling of pride among employees as they look back at how far the hospital has come. But, he said, it's not something on which they can dwell.

"You don't get to stand around and feel good that you've arrived," he said. "We are not done; this is not the stopping point. We don't get off the train here.

"This celebration marks a very positive thing," Evans added. "But that's not the destination. The destination is to continue to get better. There isn't an end to caring for humanity.

"As long as the members of our community need caring, need health care, we are going to try to keep getting better and better," Evans said. "There's not going to be any resting, that's for sure."

Born with the industrial boom

On Jan. 28, 1909, Allegheny Valley Hospital admitted its first patient.

Henry Baker came to the hospital, then located at 614 Second Ave., Tarentum, suffering from blood poisoning, according to Linda Jaskolka, AVH communications director. She said there is no record of how Baker's treatment went and if he was discharged.

However, Jaskolka said that in its first 13 months of operation, hospital records showed 115 surgical operations were performed, 85 medical cases were attended to and only 11 deaths occurred at the hospital.

Since then, tens of thousands of people, mostly residents of the Alle-Kiski Valley, have been treated at the hospital, which has become the key medical facility between Kittanning and Aspinwall. It is now part of the West Penn-Allegheny Health System.

A brief history compiled by the hospital, notes that the need for a local hospital was born from the Industrial Revolution, when manufacturing was the economic juggernaut of the Alle-Kiski Valley.

Industrial illnesses and injuries from accidents in local plants and mines, public health epidemics and the difficulty in reaching medical facilities in Pittsburgh combined to underscore the need for a local hospital.

It led to Dr. George M. Getze, known as the hospital's founding father, spearheading an effort that leased the three-story building on Second Avenue, which is now a vacant lot.

It was equipped and ready for business in 22 days.

The hospital initially had only 10 rooms available but by April another 10 were ready for use. The patient load quickly grew and the need for another facility became apparent.

On Oct. 26, 1909, only 10 months after the first hospital opened, a second site at 14 W. Seventh Ave. was purchased for $8,000 by the hospital board.

It was renovated and began accepting patients on Aug. 5, 1910.

Originally named Allegheny Valley General Hospital, the hospital's name was changed on its certificate of incorporation to Allegheny Valley Hospital on Dec. 31, 1910.

The hospital was a success and the patient load continue to grow to the point where, by 1915, a movement to build a modern hospital began.

On April 12, 1917, the hospital's board of directors chose the Campton ballfield in Harrison Township as the site and bought the property for $12,000. It is the site still occupied by the hospital.

On May 24, 1919, the new hospital was dedicated and on June 12, 1919 the hospital in Tarentum was closed.

Additional Information:

AVH timeline

Allegheny Valley Hospital timeline

Feb. 14, 1906: First Allegheny Valley General Hospital directors meeting is held.

April 3, 1906: Allegheny Valley General Hospital charter as a voluntary, nonprofit general hospital is approved.

Jan. 28, 1909: First patient admitted to Allegheny Valley General Hospital located at 614 Second Ave. in Tarentum.

Aug. 5, 1910: Hospital moves to 114 West Seventh Ave., Tarentum.

Dec. 31, 1910: Name officially changed to Allegheny Valley Hospital.

May 1910: School of Nursing established with four students.

June 14, 1919: New 98-bed hospital opens at 1301 Carlisle St. in Natrona Heights section of Harrison.

1928:Nurses school building, including residence, erected next to hospital.

1943:North Wing added; bed capacity now 220.

1958: South Wing added at a cost of $2 million.

Spring, 1968: $2.6 million wing added with space for OB, radiology, emergency and medical surgical beds.

Spring 1969: Coronary Care Unit opens.

March 25, 1976: Allegheny Valley Hospital School of Nursing graduates last class of 34 students; closes. Overall, about 1,200 nurses graduated from the program.

1983:$26.5 million addition completed; includes a new lobby, emergency department, other services.

1984:AVH Hospital Foundation is established.

Feb. 26, 1997: Allegheny Valley Hospital's board of directors unanimously votes to merge with Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation (AHERF).

April 1998: Two executives of the Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation raid $20.2 million from Allegheny Valley's restricted funds. In December, the hospital sues to recoup the money.

July 21, 1998: AHERF and four affiliates file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Oct. 22, 1998: Allegheny General Hospital and its suburban affiliates (including Allegheny Valley) announce their intention to find a new financial partner.

Aug. 1, 1999: Allegheny Valley Hospital becomes part of the new West Penn Allegheny Health System.

Nov. 1, 2000: AVH begins operation of ambulatory care, urgent care and surgery center in the former Citizens General Hospital.

2001:Allegheny Valley Hospital and the former Citizens General Hospital adopt an umbrella name of Alle-Kiski Medical Center.

2006:Obstetrics unit closes.

Nov. 30, 2007: Groundbreaking for $13 million project for emergency and urgent care services.

Jan. 1, 2009: Allegheny Valley Hospital begins yearlong 100th anniversary celebration.