[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2017\/09\/mercy-burn-center-50-years\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2017\/09\/mercy-burn-center-50-years\/","headline":"50 Years of Saving Lives: UPMC Mercy Burn Center","name":"50 Years of Saving Lives: UPMC Mercy Burn Center","description":"As the UPMC Mercy Burn Center celebrates 50 years of excellence, UPMC looks back on years of milestones and a history of pioneering innovative treatment.\r\n","datePublished":"2017-09-22","dateModified":"2018-08-29","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/emergency-medicine","name":"Trauma & Emergency Medicine","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/services\/emergency-medicine","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/trauma-emergency-medicine\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/UPMC_Burn-Unit-Timeline_Social-Graphics_BH_754x325-1.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/UPMC_Burn-Unit-Timeline_Social-Graphics_BH_754x325-1.png","height":325,"width":754},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2017\/09\/mercy-burn-center-50-years\/","about":["Family Health","Safety"],"wordCount":424,"keywords":["burn care","burn unit","burns","emergency care","trauma care"],"articleBody":"When Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh opened its burn center in 1967, it was the first in the state of Pennsylvania, and just the 14th in the United States.Twenty years later, the hospital established a trauma center that would become today\u2019s UPMC Mercy Trauma Center\u2014 a recognized leader in high quality trauma care.UPMC Mercy is the only hospital in western Pennsylvania with a comprehensive burn center and Level 1 trauma center under one roof.As the burn center celebrates 50 years of providing compassionate and innovative burn care to the community, here\u2019s a look back on its history of pioneering treatment.Visit the website for the UPMC Mercy Burn CenterUPMC Mercy Burn Center Timeline1967 \u2013 Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh opens the first burn center in Pennsylvania under the direction of Charles E. Copeland, MD. Between its opening in 1967 and May 1970, the unit treated 125 patients.1971 \u2013 The newly remodeled and specially equipped burn center opens in Mercy Hospital, funded by a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. Hospital Administrator Sr. M. Ferdinand Clark applied for the grant, which allowed the unit to acquire specialty equipment such as a whirlpool bath, circo-electric rotational beds, and automatic cardiac monitors. The unit also added an infectious disease doctor to its staff to begin burn-related research.1980 \u2013 Mercy Hospital identifies the need for additional burn center renovations and upgrades. It was treating nearly 170 patients annually, including residents of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.1981 \u2013 Hospital Executive Director Sr. Joanne Marie Andiorio applies to receive the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation grant a second time. After receiving the grant, Mercy Hospital opens a newly renovated burn center that includes patient showers, televisions in patient rooms, x-ray boxes, and stainless steel patient bathing tables (which replaced outdated whirlpool baths).1987 \u2013 Mercy Hospital\u2019s trauma services department, now the UPMC Mercy Trauma Center, is established, encompassing the Mercy Burn Center.2004 \u2013 H. Ross Perot awards a $1.4 million grant to open a new, nine-bed, 9,000-square-foot critical care burn center in honor of his wife\u2019s parents\u2014 his first grant designated outside the state of Texas. The newly designed, upgraded unit is dedicated as the Gertrude P. and Donald C.W. Birmingham Burn Center.2008 \u2013 UPMC acquires Mercy Hospital.2017 \u2013 UPMC Mercy Burn Center celebrates 50 years. It is one of only 68 American Burn Association-verified burn centers in the nation. The center uses a multidisciplinary approach that brings experts in plastic surgery, wound care, rehabilitation, and emotional support together to provide the best comprehensive burn care for patients and their families. The UPMC Mercy Trauma Center is celebrating its 30th anniversary."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2017","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2017\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"09","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2017\/\/09\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"50 Years of Saving Lives: UPMC Mercy Burn Center","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2017\/09\/mercy-burn-center-50-years\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]